AMD May Delay Ryzen 4000 ‘Zen 3’ Processors to 2021!

Based on prior launch cycles, it seemed all but certain that around September this year, AMD would launch their new ‘Zen 3’ based Ryzen 4000 desktop processors. Following a report via Twitter user “chiakokhua” (a reliable source of past information), however, there are rumors that AMD may delay the launch of their new processor platform into early 2021.

Why? Well, it seems that it boils down to two key reasons. Firstly, their 3XXX range is still selling exceptionally well, and secondly, because AMD simply isn’t feeling that they’re under any pressure from Intel. Wow! How quickly things can change, right?

AMD To Delay Ryzen 4000 ‘Zen 3’ CPUs to 2021?

Picking out the key pieces of information, sources reportedly close to AMD are suggesting that despite their new Ryzen 4000 processors initially being set for release later this year, the current market trends may be tempting them to stick with their 3XXX platform for a little longer. The translated version reads:

“According to motherboard manufacturers, due to the pandemic and competitive reasons, Intel and AMD kept changing their 2020 desktop roadmap and launch schedules, causing major headaches for the supply chain. In addition, NVIDIA and AMD are also keeping the launch schedules for their next-gen GPUs secret, to avert pricing manipulations by their opponents.

Judging from the way things now look on both sides, AMD’s Ryzen 3000 series, launched since July 2019, will continue to be hot-sellers. Refreshed models coming in June/July are the motherboard manufacturers’ important products for stimulating sales in the second half. In contrast, the earliest Intel will officially launch 10nm desktop processors is at the end of 2021. If Intel does not have any secret weapons during the intervening one-and-a-half years, it’s desktop market share may touch new lows, and AMD can be expected to hit the 30% mark in one fell swoop.

According to motherboard manufacturers, sales for Ryzen 3000 series are hot. Accordingly, AMD is extending its life cycle, and definitely will not be launching the next-gen Ryzen 4000 series, based on Zen3 architecture and using TSMC’s 7nm EUV process, in Sep. The earliest Ryzen 4000 series will enter mass production is end of 2020, and launch in Jan 2021 at CES. Whether it will be changed to 5nm EUV process is unclear at the moment. “

What Do We Think?

So, rather a strong number of claims being made here, but what do we think? Well, while it is still entirely possible that AMD will launch the Ryzen 4XXX platform this year, there is something about it that makes more than a little sense. Almost like this is the completed image the various puzzle pieces have been creating over the last few months! Rather than rambling on each point though, I’m going to try and keep my beliefs for this in brief:

• AMD Ryzen 3000 processors are selling exceptionally well
• Intel’s Comet Lake-S platform was, on the whole, generally an underwhelming release/response
• The AMD Ryzen 3000 XT refresh suddenly makes a LOT more sense in this context. It mildly baffled me why AMD would launch a new refresh less than 2-3 months before a new generation. The XT processors could easily represent a solid stop-gap measure.

The short version is though, we don’t know. As far as we’re concerned AMD is still going to release Ryzen 4000 later this year. With this new information though, let’s just say that there’s something about it that just feels right!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!