Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Charles R who wrote (67882)	8/6/1999 10:04:00 PM
From: survivin	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1577883

Charles, Have you read these two infoworld stories? The first one is classic FUD. I'm somewhat disturbed that infoworld would attempt to reignite the shareholder lawsuits from March. Absolutely no new info is provided, although amd did file with the SEC today. It is almost as if they're trying to quell any momentum AMD may have after today's rise and the likely good news on Monday. infoworld.com This next story, posted at the same time, suggests that notebook monitors are so scarce that major oems cannot supply the market with the chips they have now. Whew, good thing intc delayed those new cumines. These two stories can be interpreted to greatly favor intc with very little effort. But, I'm sure a quality organization would never stoop to such a level. infoworld.com

To: Charles R who wrote (67882)	8/6/1999 10:21:00 PM
From: survivin	Respond to of 1577883

Here is another recent story you may not have seen. (hate those sites that don't provide direct story links) pubs.cmpnet.com Commentary: Why AMD may want to sell part of its Dresden fab By Jack Robertson Come again? Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which perennially has suffered production shortfalls, is now worried about overcapacity? It all started when AMD officials confirmed reports that the troubled chip maker might now consider a joint venture partner for its soon-to-open, state-of-the-art Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany. That would happen, they said, only if it turned out that the company didn't need all the output from its new, 0.18-micron process line. There is a chance that AMD could end up with excess capacity next year as the Dresden fab comes on line. That's because production of its venerable K6 processor chips will start being phased out at Fab 25 in Austin, as the market shifts to the next-generation Athlon MPU. That would free up capacity there, which then could be shifted to producing even more Athlon chips. But if the Athlon becomes the big seller that AMD has been touting, the chip maker would need all the production capacity it can generate from both of its fabs. One would also presume that AMD built the massive $1.8 billion Dresden fab because it fully expected to need all the wafers the plant could turn out. But there may be an even bigger problem forcing AMD to seek a partner for its new fab. Company officials wouldn't discuss it, but the German fab has turned into a costly drain on AMD's already stretched resources. Launching a next-generation fab on a distant site with 0.18-micron design rules and copper processing doesn't come cheap. In the beginning, AMD got attractive financial and tax incentives from the Saxony state government, but attempts to obtain further assistance haven't proved to be successful. Turns out there is a natural partner, however, for AMD in its Dresden plant. That would be Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector, which could use Fab 30 as a foundry for its own advanced copper-enabled ICs or for contract manufacturing to compete against IBM Corp.'s growing copper-wafer foundry business. AMD is using Motorola's copper interconnection technology in Dresden and engineers from both companies already are working closely together there to bring up the new process. It wouldn't be that much of a stretch for Motorola. The company already has a major presence in Dresden in its partnership with Infineon Technologies AG for running a 300-mm wafer joint development pilot line. Motorola isn't showing any interest in AMD's new fab--at least not publicly. A spokesman would not comment on industry speculation it was considering buying into the Dresden plant. Selling Motorola on the idea of partnering on Fab 30 may not be all that easy. Motorola has its own problems now in trying to woo a partner for its $2 billion "on-hold" superfab in Tianjin, China. On top of that, the big chip maker reportedly is ready to break out of an existing joint venture with Infineon at White Oak Semiconductor Co., near Richmond, Va. All of this turmoil shows that setting up joint ventures to operate fabs is still a tricky proposition. As Shigeki Matsue, senior associate vice president of NEC Corp., puts it: "It's as hard finding just the right semiconductor partner as finding the right spouse."