Why can’t AMD make more Hawaiis?

GDC 2014: They are but it isn’t nearly enough

Mar 24, 2014 by

AMD Radeon Logo 2013Why isn’t AMD making more Hawaii’s? They are, but not enough more. Why not? There is a good answer to that question but it is not as straightforward as it may seem.

As you may know AMD’s Hawaii GPUs, also known as R9 290, are in really short supply. How short? According to a few AIBs, AMD can only supply a small fraction of their demand, and this shortage has been going on since launch. Some blame cryptocurrency miners, others blame executive incompetence, and so on until just about every conspiracy theory is floated.  So SemiAccurate decided to dig for some hard information.  Unfortunately for the basement dwelling UFO spotters there is an explanation for the situation.

Note: The following is for professional and student level subscribers.

Disclosures: Charlie Demerjian and Stone Arch Networking Services, Inc. have no consulting relationships, investment relationships, or hold any investment positions with any of the companies mentioned in this report.

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Charlie Demerjian

Roving engine of chaos and snide remarks at SemiAccurate
Charlie Demerjian is the founder of Stone Arch Networking Services and SemiAccurate.com. SemiAccurate.com is a technology news site; addressing hardware design, software selection, customization, securing and maintenance, with over one million views per month. He is a technologist and analyst specializing in semiconductors, system and network architecture. As head writer of SemiAccurate.com, he regularly advises writers, analysts, and industry executives on technical matters and long lead industry trends. Charlie is also available through Guidepoint and Mosaic. FullyAccurate