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  • Machinus - Monday, November 26, 2018 - link

    How long until the Chinese steal x86 so they can produce all their own chips without paying the license fee to the west?
  • wr3zzz - Monday, November 26, 2018 - link

    China has had x86 license for years and have produced their own x86 CPU that are perfectly legal to sell. The only problem is that nobody wants these chips except in special cases mandated by government purchases.
  • Machinus - Tuesday, November 27, 2018 - link

    No, not having a license. Stealing the technology to sell domestically for free.
  • Loenrankez - Tuesday, November 27, 2018 - link

    And I suppose you see what big x86 licensed companies like Intel and AMD don't see?
  • hyno111 - Tuesday, November 27, 2018 - link

    China never produced any x86 product before they get the lincense (and architecture) from VIA, which is a quite recent development.
  • ZolaIII - Tuesday, November 27, 2018 - link

    They do have license from VIA.
  • levizx - Friday, November 30, 2018 - link

    And Intel and AMD
  • levizx - Friday, November 30, 2018 - link

    So Intel AMD and VIA won't give them license yet signed contract to allow them to produce processors with their technology? That's called a license you idiot.
  • iwod - Tuesday, November 27, 2018 - link

    Those x86 chip are essentially VIA x86, without all the latest instruction set from Intel and AMD. It is not that no body wants it due to Chinese Government, they are simply not competitive enough in any shape or form.
  • Loenrankez - Tuesday, November 27, 2018 - link

    How long till people stop polluting political propaganda in tech site.
  • Yojimbo - Tuesday, November 27, 2018 - link

    Just because it concerns politics doesn't mean it's not true or not directly related to technology.
  • Loenrankez - Tuesday, November 27, 2018 - link

    Do you know the difference between fact and conjecture?
  • levizx - Friday, November 30, 2018 - link

    Your comment is just silly. It's not "just because it concerns politics", it's not true because, well, big surprise, IT IS NOT TRUE.

    Both x86-compatible produced by Chinese companies are in partner with x86 license holders.
    So no, it's not true because it simply defies FACTS, and no it's not related to technology because a simple Google search can reveal the false accusation yet he/she post the false accusation anyway - that means it has nothing to do with technology and everything to to do with dirty politics and racism.

    https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/201...
    https://www.pcgamesn.com/via-chinese-x86-cpu-match...
  • iwod - Tuesday, November 27, 2018 - link

    AMD already has an agreement with Chinese CCP to Fab special EPYC (I suspect without PSP, technology similar to Intel ME ) with TSMC under a JV.

    But seriously some of these stuff is getting ridiculous, which part of free trade demands one to form a JV or give in to your IP before you do business with them?
  • Lord of the Bored - Tuesday, November 27, 2018 - link

    They already did. Intel is actually a shell corporation for Shenzong Electronics. Has been for years. Why do you THINK the Pentium 4 happened?
  • levizx - Friday, November 30, 2018 - link

    you are an idiot, a racist, and a troll.
  • levizx - Friday, November 30, 2018 - link

    A simple Google search tells you Intel AMD and VIA all have partnership with China to produce x86 chips. Sure, it may very well be free, we don't know the terms. But you can't steal with permission, that's a fact.
  • ABR - Tuesday, November 27, 2018 - link

    Time will tell but it feels like GF cut off the legs of their future in deciding to abandon the race to smaller scales. Here they are flogging lower power and higher performance, how long is that going to last as TSMC and Samsung continue to lower scales? Sure, there'll always be a market for not-the-latest-and-greatest, but even that will shift over time as the high end improves. If Samsung is happy to sell the yields from their unused 7nm equipment as they go to 5 and 3 to makers of washing machines and el-cheapo electronic devices, where is GF making its money?
  • mpbello - Wednesday, November 28, 2018 - link

    Developing a FINFET processor for 7nm can cost close to half a billion dollars. Not all chips have the need or demand that justifies such expensive development. On the other hand, planar manufacturing processes are much cheaper to design for, and GloFo's FDSOI is leading edge planar.
  • Targon - Thursday, November 29, 2018 - link

    The real key is looking forward, not just where you are currently. As 7nm matures and things move on to 5nm and other newer technologies, because costs DO go down as the fab process improves, why would any company bother with 14 or 12nm? Remember, other than the development cost and the issue of yields, the smaller nodes actually makes chips cost less to manufacture.

    Global Foundries was close to having that 7nm fab process, with AMD planning on using Global as one source of 7nm chips and TSMC the other, before Global decided to just give up. It would be like being only a half mile from the finish line of a marathon and then giving up.
  • melgross - Thursday, November 29, 2018 - link

    GF has had very few big customers. When AMD pulled out, that was the end.

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