AMD boosted by fast yields
AMD's deal with Chartered Semiconductor produces its fastest yields in record time
AMD is hoping to put its supply problems behind it following news that its deal with chip manufacturer Chartered Semiconductor has produced its first yields in record time.
The company said that last month it began its first revenue shipments of AMD64 processors manufactured at Chartered Semiconductor’s Singapore plant. AMD claimed that the two firms ramped 300mm production at Fab 7 in record time, hitting major milestones and starting production at mature yields. AMD signed a manufacturing outsourcing deal with Chartered, one of the world’s largest chip foundries, in 2002 with the aim of beginning mass production of AMD64 chips by this summer.
The news will help offset some of the supply problems AMD has suffered over the past year, especially last December when it admitted that demand had outstripped supply for some of its desktop processors. AMD said that unprecedented demand had resulted in a low supply of packaging components.
With Chartered shouldering some of the production load, AMD can concentrate on getting its own plants up to speed. It recently announced a $2.5bn investment to upgrade and expand its two German plants.
Preston Snuggs, vice-president of manufacturing systems at AMD, said: “Through a flexible, collaborative approach and the power of automated precision manufacturing, AMD and Chartered have attained rapid production ramp on AMD64 products with mature yields.”
AMD will need all the production capacity it can get in the coming year, following its ground-breaking deal to supply Dell with server processors. It is expected that Dell will also start using AMD chips in its desktop PCs.
Kay Chai Ang, senior vice-president of fab operations at Chartered, said: “Since we initiated our manufacturing collaboration with AMD in 2004, our collective goals have been to achieve mature yields on-plan and ahead of schedule for 90 nanometre volume production in support of AMD’s expanding market opportunity. We are proud of these results.
“Our relationship has not only enhanced our ability to meet and exceed AMD’s aggressive manufacturing requirements, but it has provided pass-through benefits resulting from our implementation of automated precision manufacturing know-how from AMD.”
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