invariably, as we all know, this industry is never a one-horse race. All good points made above, but for this GEN however, it may well boil down to who gets first out the traps. That said, having samples to test does no way go the length to offer a best buy, just yet.
interesting times ahead.
I think AM will be first on the scene with their 4th gen chips, with Spondoolies about a month or two behind with their next gen.
Update
14nm/16nm projects are at pre-evaluation and pre-design stage. It has to be done
in 2015 but the starting time of placing orders depends on overall gain vs (NRE/R&D/risks).
...
The mass production time of BE300 in terms of chip-out date is February to March, 2015.
From
this CCN interview with Spondoolies:
Could you tell CCN about what we can expect in the future from Spondoolies-Tech?
We have a very ambitious schedule in front of us. In Q1, we will bring our next 28nm chip. It has very ambitious specifications. Then by the end of q2 we will have our 16nm chips, with out of dimension specification. We are looking to be the most significant manufacturer in the SHA-256 industry by the end of 2015.
So, it seems like AM will be first out with their next gen but it looks like Spondoolies or KNC will likely be first to 16nm.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. About the "competition": Spoondoolies has the added liability of being based in Israel/Palestine, with all of the stability and ethics that entails. I think it's funny peeps keep bringing up Spoondoolies as fierce competition, without mention that they are doing business out of a war-torn, failed state. How many work days do they lose when they are cowering under cars etc from the Palestinian fireworks? That should factor, especially given all the shots at Havelock being located in Panama....
I wouldn't worry too much about Afghanistan based competition either. Same reasons.