AMD Has a Problem with Its Laptop Processors
At the time of writing, the best laptop processor is currently AMD's Ryzen AI HX 370. As demonstrated Asus ZenBook S 16 reviewthis processor is both efficient, able to run recent video gamesequipped with an NPU and sufficiently sober to offer good autonomy. However, this processor is only available on a few references from Asus.
Problematic availability that frustrates partners
And this observation is not new, when the Ryzen 7 5800U was releasedan ultraportable processor that cheerfully tackled Intel processors of the time, the latter was not widely available until almost a year after its launch, giving Intel time to slowly get back up to speed.
So if we do the math, there are currently 2,117 models available for sale in France with an Intel processor, 749 models with an AMD processor and 65 models with a Qualcomm processor. AMD ultimately only represents a quarter of the offering.
If we compare the only Snapdragon X Elite from Qualcomm in May and the launch of the Ryzen AI 300 in mid-July, the observation is damning for the father of Ryzen which is a historical supplier of mobile processors while Qualcomm is making its entrance.
Currently 58 references are available in Snapdragon X Elite/Plus from 7 different brands, while the Ryzen AI 300 is only available from Asus which has multiplied the references (52) by varying the amount of storage and the amount of RAM on a set of 9 different chassis.
The main cause of the problem would come from a lack of availability of the TSMC chains which engrave the Zen5 cores of the Ryzen AI 300. TSMC being the leader, its production chains are also monopolized by Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm and Intel. In particular Apple which has contracts to always benefit from the best engraving fineness and Nvidia which is currently experiencing a supply problem for its AI chips for servers.
So according to ComputerBase several laptop manufacturers have complained relationships maintained with AMD which continues to promise processors without this being followed by facts. The manufacturers in question are not difficult to determine since Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo are put forward by AMD and only Asus markets these processors.
Qualcomm's arrival reshuffles the cards
The sudden arrival of Qualcomm with the support of Microsoft has also put a damper on AMD's relations with its partners. It must be said that in order to benefit from the Copilot+ PC designation put forward by Microsoft, the Windows publisher has excluded Intel and AMD processors that do not meet the sacrosanct criterion of 40 TOPS for the NPU part. Despite the release of the Ryzen AI 300 with an NPU of around 55 TOPS, AMD has still not benefited from the Copilot+ PC designation, something that should be resolved in the coming months.
Manufacturers have therefore also surfed the AI wave to offer Copilot+ PCs with inevitably models based on Qualcomm processors to the detriment of AMD since Intel does not seem to have any supply problems with its Meteor Lake processors.
AMD never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity
Last but not least, AMD needs to catch up with Nvidia in AI. As AMD CEO Lisa Su has stated, AMD is a company that generates over 50% of its revenue from servers. So it's more than likely that when AMD gets allocations on TSMC's production lines, it will prioritize manufacturing AI-focused Instinct MI350 chips over manufacturing consumer-grade Ryzen AI 300s. Nvidia is also making the same choice by prioritizing manufacturing its GB200 AI chips for servers over releasing its new consumer-grade GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards.
Anyway this doesn't seem to affect sales of AMD products since According to ComputerBase, AMD continued to gain market share in the year 2023, whether on the mobile and desktop processor side or on the server market.
However, the situation with partners should not reach a point of no return, especially if the market were to be less favorable for AMD, notably with the imminent arrival of Intel's response with Lunar Lake for laptops and Arrow Lake for desktops.
