Tuesday, 30 May 2006

AMD to Invest USD 2.5 Bln to Expand Dresden Factories

Maker of Microchips for personal computers Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has said that it would invest additional USD 2.5 billion to upgrade and expand its two factories in Germany. AMD said it would add 300 millimeter wafer production capabilities in Dresden through the implementation of three new projects.

AMD’s newest fabrication facility will come online through a major transformation of the company’s existing Fab 30, which will be named Fab 38. The transition from 200mm to 300mm allows for more than twice as many processors on a wafer. In addition, AMD will also expand Fab 36’s existing 300mm capacity and build a new clean room facility to handle the site’s growing Bump and Test requirements, which is one of the final stages of the manufacturing process where wafers are prepared to be shipped for packaging.

The expansion plan comes on the heels of the announcement that Dell Inc. will start using AMD chips in high-end servers for powering business networks, fuelling expectations the world's top PC maker will offer more AMD products in the future.

"As global demand continues to rise for AMD products, we are scaling our manufacturing capacity intelligently to meet our customers’ growing needs," said Hector Ruiz, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of AMD.

AMD's expansion will create up to 420 jobs in the next three years in Dresden, in the state of Saxony, the company said.