But in the arena, yields remain an issue for both AMD and Nvidia Corp., causing a possible shortfall in shipments at the high-end, according to an analyst.

As reported, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) is having issues with its 40-nm yields. TSMC makes graphics chips on a foundry basis for AMD and Nvidia, including 40-nm products.

''With respect to TSMC, yield issues at 40-nm were admitted by the company and it has been spending on process control during its current capacity ramp. In fact, our checks suggest that the yield for 40-nm may have been under 30 percent in May 2009,'' said C.J. Muse, an analyst at Barclays Capital, in a new report.

''And while our current checks suggest that TSMC may have actually improved the yield somewhat, the GPU releases from Nvidia and AMD are still either delayed or are likely to be available in limited supply,'' Muse said. ''But these poor yields cannot continue -- it leads to unhappy fabless customers -- and with new entrants into the foundry space, namely Samsung LSI and Global Foundries, we expect that the focus on yields will only increase.''