I am trying to write a school paper on AMD regarding their supply chains and how they work. I'm trying to get a broad understanding of this, but my research thus far has yet to enlighten me with any specifics and I still have some major gaps in my knowledge. I was wondering if anyone on this subreddit who is knowledgeable about such things can help?
To my understanding, at least from the processor side of things, AMD normally produces their own designs in-house but outsources to third parties to manufacture and distribute. Processors are born from silicon wafers created by foundries, with TSMC and GF as the core suppliers depending on processor size (I believe 7nm processors is created at TSMC and anything larger goes to GF?).
While there must be hundreds of steps in chiseling out transistors from these wafers, at what point does the processor end at the foundries, and where does it go afterwards? I believe I recall that AMD does a lot of its assembly and packaging in places like China and Malaysia. Are these places the next step? Does the end product simply go to distributors and customers after that?
Any insight would be appreciated. Any reference sources, or even names to specific manufacturing companies would also be of huge help. Thanks!
