AMD CEO Lisa Su recently indicated that the company's Radeon R9 Fury dual-GPU card would be pushed into 2Q16, a marked delay over the initial EOY 15 target launch window.
The new card will host two Fiji GPUs on a single card, potentially imbuing the dual-GPU, single-card market with a bit of life. The device has been touted since E3 as the Fiji Gemini and was targeting a December launch period, with Lisa Su claiming that the delay has been to better accommodate shipment of virtual reality products (HTC Vive coincides with the new Gemini window).
Barring some unmentioned technological delay, AMD's slower launch is likely a strategic move to ensure the Gemini doesn't arrive significantly before VR – allowing a period for consumers to forget about the product. There's also concern of yield and availability, something AMD struggled with when selling its Fury X; a delay would allow more stockpiling prior to retail, hopefully avoiding a repeat of the Fury X's nigh-perpetual inaccessibility during launch.
We're curious whether this move will push close enough to the newer architectures that AMD may risk its market viability, particularly with Pascal and Greenland on the horizon. Even still, a 2Q16 launch should be soon enough that the card remains the 'new kid' on the market for a short period.
- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.