AMD Ryzen Processor (Image credit: AMD)

AMD is set to take the stage at the CES tech conference in Las Vegas next week, which leaves us all wondering about what exactly AMD CEO and president Dr. Lisa Su will reveal during the press event at January 6 at 2 p.m. PT.

As suggested by The China Times this week, it's possible that AMD will share details on the next-generation Zen 3 microarchitecture during its press conference at CES. Furthermore, the Chinese news outlet claimed that CPUs using Zen 3 will land in the second half of this year.

AMD started deploying its Zen 2 processors last year, so it seems unlikely that it would release a successor so soon. We more expect to see a teaser of Zen 3 or maybe AMD will indulge us with a roadmap. Realistically, we don't expect the company to fully detail or share a release date for Zen 3 at its press conference.

The next wave of AMD processors, except for APUs, should leverage the Zen 3 microarchitecture. TSMC is expected to continue to produce AMD's processors but on its improved N7+ EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) manufacturing process. TSMC started shipping N7+ EUV chips to its customers in October. Assuming that AMD is one of them, the chipmaker could very well unleash its Zen 3 chips in the latter half of 2020.

2019 2020 (Not Confirmed) Server Processor 2nd-generation Epyc 3rd-generation Epyc Microarchitecture Zen 2 Zen 3 Lithography TSMC 7nm TSMC 7nm+ HEDT Processor Ryzen Threadripper 3000 Ryzen Threadripper 4000 Codename Castle Peak Genesis Peak Microarchitecture Zen 2 Zen 3 Lithography TSMC 7nm TSMC 7nm+ Mainstream Processor Ryzen 3000 Ryzen 4000 Codename Matisse Vermeer Microarchitecture Zen 2 Zen 3 Lithography TSMC 7nm TSMC 7nm+ APU Ryzen 3000 Ryzen 4000 Codename Picasso Renoir Microarchitecture Zen+ Zen 2 Lithography GlobalFoundries 12nm TSMC 7nm

The list of upcoming offerings that should be Zen 3-based include the third-generation Epyc Milan processors, Ryzen Threadripper 4000-series Genesis Peak parts and Ryzen 4000-series Vermeer chips.

For the time being, we're looking forward to seeing AMD's confirmed Renoir APU lineup, which will usher in the company's first-ever eight-core APUs. And let's not forget about the already-announced, 64-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X that's rumored to arrive in January as well.

You can watch the livestream of AMD's CES press conference on AMD's YouTube channel on Monday.

AMD promises to push the envelope this year again, and we don't doubt that the chipmaker has some big surprises in store for the hardware world.