AMD Removes Mentions of Taiwanese Origin from Ryzen Processors, But It’s Not for Political Reasons

Primarily made in Germany in the past, the AMD processors were handed over to GlobalFoundries in March 2009, with the newly formed company taking the reins of manufacturing. As the years progressed, AMD began placing an increasing number of orders for processor chips from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Recent times, however, have seen the mention of Taiwan disappearing from the covers of the Ryzen chip family, not due to political reasons but other factors instead.

Up until recently, AMD used to list the primary countries involved in the manufacturing process on the covers of its processors. Some of the chips were made in Taiwan, some in Germany, with the final assembly and testing being taken care of in Malaysia. According to Tom’s Hardware, references to Taiwan no longer feature on the processor marks of AMD Ryzen. The only country that still gets listed is Malaysia, which handles the final assembly and testing (seen on the right-hand side of the image).

The empty space where the phrase “Diffused in Taiwan” would usually be, remained untouched on the cover of the processor with the new markings. Its disappearance gave rise to a theory among observers that the acknowledgment of Taiwan as an independent country didn’t sit well with customers from China, who view the island as part of their own territory. Thus, the theory suggests, AMD obliged the wishes of its Chinese consumer base.

However, as clarified by AMD representatives in a statement to Tom’s Hardware, the company took steps towards standardizing all of its processor markings in 2023, eliminating the need to mention the country involved in crystal processing. The final stage of the processor’s production occurs in Malaysia, which is why it is the only country now mentioned on the chip cover. According to unofficial sources, this standardization was influenced by the products from Xilinx, that AMD acquired in 2022. Xilinx followed a different approach to marking, which was then decided to be implemented across all AMD products.