FPGAs Not AMD's End Goal?
$35Billion seems like an awful lot for Xilinx. It's not like their products are (for comparison purposes) in every single mobile device on the planet (as ARM is), nor is there likely to be a big up-tick in sales simply because of a tie up with AMD.
On the other hand, Xilinx does also use TSMC for manufacturing. Owning Xilinx nominally gives AMD control over the contract with TSMC, and presumably could (with no more than a friendly chat) ask TSMC to make more Epycs instead of FPGAs. That gives them more muscle to compete against Intel. The diversification into FPGAs could be a useful side effect, but the flexibility of a greater share of TSMC's manufacturing capacity is probably what really counts right now.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
