AMD appears to be benefiting from a slowdown in the smartphone market, as Qualcomm and MediaTek reportedly reduce some of their reserved 4nm and 5nm production at TSMC.
The shift is tied to weak demand for entry level and mid range smartphones. Those segments are under heavy pressure because memory prices have risen sharply. DRAM and NAND now make up a much larger share of a budget phone’s total cost, leaving phone makers with less room to absorb price increases.
That pressure has reportedly pushed Qualcomm and MediaTek to cut back some production plans for 4nm and 5nm mobile chips. The reduction is said to cover around 20,000 to 30,000 wafers, equal to roughly 15 million to 20 million mobile chips.
AMD seems to have moved quickly to use some of that available capacity.
This matters because AMD still sells large volumes of CPUs built on older but mature TSMC nodes. These chips can have strong yields, better availability, and good margins, especially when demand remains healthy across servers and PCs.
AMD CEO Lisa Su recently said the company’s first quarter growth was more unit driven. She also noted that AMD is shipping more CPUs across both high end Turin products and older Genoa family chips.
Here is the simple picture:
| Area | What is happening |
|---|---|
| Smartphone market | Low and mid range demand is weakening |
| Main pressure | DRAM and NAND prices are raising device costs |
| Qualcomm and MediaTek | Reportedly cutting some 4nm and 5nm TSMC production |
| Estimated freed capacity | Around 20,000 to 30,000 wafers |
| AMD impact | More room to ship CPUs using mature TSMC capacity |
| Key products | Newer Turin CPUs and older Genoa family chips |
The situation shows how connected the chip industry has become. Weak smartphone demand can free up manufacturing capacity that another company can use almost immediately.
For AMD, this is useful timing. AI servers, data center CPUs, and broader compute demand are still strong, and extra TSMC capacity gives the company more room to ship products while advanced node supply remains tight.
It also shows why older nodes still matter. Not every profitable chip needs to be made on the newest process. Mature 4nm and 5nm capacity can still support high volume products, especially when yields are strong and customers are buying more CPUs.
The smartphone slowdown is bad news for Qualcomm, MediaTek, and budget phone makers. But for AMD, it may create a short term supply advantage at exactly the right moment.
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