News.com meldt dat Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) en United Microelectronics samples van de Transmeta Crusoe processor hebben geproduceerd. Tot op heden wordt de Crusoe exclusief door IBM geproduceerd. Dit heeft als voordeel dat Transmeta gebruik kan maken van IBM's state-of-the-art koper-interconnect productie technologie, maar heeft ook als belangrijk nadeel dat IBM hogere kosten in rekening brengt dan TSMC en UMC.
Lage productiekosten zijn uitermate belangrijk voor Transmeta als zij de concurrentie aan willen gaan met Intel, AMD en National Semiconductor, die allen wel hun eigen broodjes bakken. Productie bij IBM beschermd Transmeta tevens tegen juridische acties van Intel, omdat IBM de beschikking heeft over uitgebreide cross-licensing deals met Intel:
"Transmeta wanted to work with IBM to make sure there were no questions about legal issues with Intel," said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst at The Linley Group. "Over time, I think they will look to other foundries."
While there are a number of factors that would seem to encourage a TSMC-Transmeta alliance, one of the crucial ones is real estate. When they arrive later this year, Transmeta's Crusoe processors will compete against processors from Intel, Advanced Micro Devices and National Semiconductor to be picked by major computer manufacturers as the brain inside Web pads, ultra-thin notebooks and other consumer electronics devices.
[...] "It is tougher for a fabless company to compete where the other players have fabs. Cyrix suffered because of it, and eventually Transmeta will suffer from that if they don't initially," said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with Insight 64. "Don't forget--Transmeta not only has to make money for itself; they also have to make money for IBM."
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