AMD has new customer for custom apu . after Microsoft and Sony

AMD has a new customer for its custom apus. AMD also makes such chips for Sony’s PS4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One, among others. It is a semi-custom chip for a game console, so there is a chance that it is Nintendo’s NX.

AMD started last quarter with the design of a new semi-custom chip: APUs that the company adapts to specific wishes on behalf of customers. “Last year we already announced two new designs, expected to generate roughly $1 billion in revenue, for mass production in the second half of 2016. We started a new design last quarter,” AMD said. director Lisa Su at the presentation of the quarterly figures.

Su expects a solid year for game console chips revenue. “If we add some of the new design wins to that, it gives us the potential to grow in the second half of the year,” she continues. The agreements are concluded on the basis of secrecy, so she is not allowed to give details. At the end of last year, AMD hinted that of the two design wins, one is an x86 and an ARM chip.

There is a chance that the x86 apu is the chip for the new device that Nintendo is working on under the name NX. The Wii U already contains a GPU from AMD, the GX2, but the CPU is still based on the PowerPC architecture from IBM. However, that platform seems to be on the wane and Microsoft and Sony have already moved to x86 for their consoles. The combination of apu with AMD’s GPU offers advantages in terms of consumption and performance.

AMD can use success with its semi-custom chips. The company is struggling with declining demand for its APUs due to poor PC sales. AMD’s revenue came in at $942 million, a drop of 34.6 percent from last year. Converted that is currently 865 million euros. The quarterly loss was $181 million, compared to $36 million a year ago. The revenue of the Computing and Graphics branch fell by no less than 54.2 percent.