Hi all; AMD being bled dry...From: Michelle Maggies Inquirer...
AMD being bled dry
Costs well up
By Cameron 'Odie' Rogers, 12 June 2001 11.05 BST
THE PROCESS RACE with Intel is taking a deadly toll on Austin's
Advanced Micro Devices, inside sources have revealed. Although
AMD has competed admirably with Intel's frantic fab and process
expansion up to this time, the battle is becoming more and more
costly to wage.
AMD's $2 billion Dresden fab is widely regarded as one of the
most advanced in the world, and it has allowed AMD to one-up Intel
in the race to copper interconnects. Intel, however, is poised to
substantially beat AMD to.13 copper process technology, as well
as future .10 and .07 micron processes.
Already, the intro date for the K8 'Hammer' processor line has
been pushed back substantially because of delays in the .13 and
.13 SOI processes it requires. Intel, however, will be flaunting its
.13 Northwood Pentium 4 in October of this year.
However, a source familiar with the matter at AMD Malaysia
clarified elements of the story later today.
He said: "Already, the intro date for the K8 'Hammer' processor
line has been pushed back substantially because of delays in the
.13 and .13 SOI processes it requires.
"The reason why Hammer was 'pushed back' was because it was
orginally planned to be built in 0.13 then to move it into 0.13 SOI.
This decision was then changed to align the introduction of
Hammer with 0.13 SOI technology. This meant that its introduction
had to be delayed until the new process became available. The
introduction of 0.13 or 0.13 SOI has not been delayed."
AMD is seeking partners to help it in its manufacturing plight,
among them Motorola and IBM. 3rd party foundries, such as TSMC
and UMC, are also being contacted. µ
* MEANWHILE this Reuters report quotes an AMD official as
saying that the firm's market share will reach 30 per cent by the end
of this year. And our Spot Market Watcher, Marco Fumagalli, is
reporting that the AMD Athlon 1400 266GHz has already entered
into the broker arena, with prices of $182 being quoted for the part.
213.219.40.69 |
