AMD CES keynote hints at 7nm gaming parts in 2019

AMD has confirmed that its president and chief executive, Dr. Lisa Su, will be giving a keynote speech during the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show - and that she will be talking about the company's next-generation 7nm CPU and GPU products.

That the semiconductor industry is struggling to keep up with the demands of Moore's Law, the observation turned golden rule by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore that the number of transistors on a cutting-edge chip trends towards a doubling every 18 months, is no secret: Intel's 10nm process node is still not in volume production despite having been originally scheduled for release in 2015, while former AMD production subsidiary GlobalFoundries recently put its own 7nm plans on indefinite hold.

AMD, though, is forging ahead with the promise of launching its first 7nm CPU and GPU products next year - production of which the company will now have no choice but to hand over to Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC), chief technical officer Mark Papermaster confirmed earlier this year.

While there have been questions raised regarding whether AMD's 7nm product launches will include consumer or merely data centre and high-end workstation parts, confirmation from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) that AMD president and chief executive Dr. Lisa Su will be keynoting the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019 brings with it the suggestion that consumer parts are indeed on the cards: 'In 2019, AMD will catapult computing, gaming, and visualisation technologies forward with the world’s first 7nm high-performance CPUs and GPUs, providing the power required to reach technology’s next horizon,' CTA's announcement claims. 'During her CES keynote, Dr. Su and guests will provide a view into the diverse applications for new computing technologies ranging from solving some of the world's toughest challenges to the future of gaming, entertainment and virtual reality with the potential to redefine modern life.'

While CES 2019 will kick off on January 8th 2019 in Las Vegas, there's no guarantee it will come with simultaneous product launches from AMD: The blurb only promises a discussion of the company's 7nm products that will launch in 2019, giving AMD the whole year to actually ship something and still hit its self-appointed schedule. Equally, while the CTA has confirmed that Dr. Su will be discussing gaming applications, it doesn't come with the promise that gaming parts will be among the first of the 7nm products launched by AMD.

More information will be available, naturally enough, following Dr. Su's keynote speech in early January.