Fujitsu AMD Semiconductor Ltd. Breaks Ground for Megafab for Flash MemoryProducts; New Facility Will Also Include Shell for 12-inch Fab (300mm)
Wed Jul 19 09:19:00 EDT 2000
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jul 19, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- AMD announced that Fujitsu
AMD Semiconductor Ltd. (FASL), a joint venture of AMD and Fujitsu Ltd., broke
ground today at Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan, for its third "megafab" for the
manufacture of flash memory devices. Construction of the facility will begin
immediately, and work will continue around the clock to meet a planned
completion of the clean room by December of this year. Initial production is
planned for the second half of 2001. The facility, designated as JV3, will
encompass more than 100,000 square feet of clean room space and be capable of
producing 7,500 eight-inch wafers per week when fully equipped and operating at
peak capacity. AMD said the new facility will include a shell for future
expansion. The estimated cost of the JV3 facility is approximately $1.5 billion.
"AMD is committed to ensuring that our customers are well supported with all the
innovative flash memory products that they require," said Walid Maghribi, group
vice president and general manager of the Memory Group at AMD. "With demand for
our leading-edge flash memory products exceeding capacity, AMD and Fujitsu have
committed to an aggressive expansion of production capacity to meet high
forecasted demand. With worldwide demand for flash memory products, measured in
annual bit consumption, growing at a 100 percent compound annual rate since
1994, we believe we must continue a rapid expansion of production capacity to
support our customer's long-term needs." Maghribi said he expects that future
expansion of the newest FASL megafab will include a 12-inch (300-millimeter)
facility for flash memory products. "Based on current industry demand forecasts,
I believe that we will need to begin construction of JV4 as a 12-inch facility
some time in 2002," said Maghribi.
"High-density flash memory is a critical enabling technology for applications
such as cellular telephones, high-bandwidth networking equipment, automotive
applications, set-top boxes, and hand-held information appliances. We believe
the explosion of demand for these products will continue to drive rapid growth
of flash memory consumption for the next several years. We believe FASL must
continue to double bit production capacity each year for the next three years to
maintain its position as the world's leading producer of flash memory devices."
FASL recently commenced shipments of flash memory devices from a facility in
Iwate, Japan, and will begin shipments from a facility in Gresham, Oregon, in
the second half of this year.
About AMD Flash Memory Devices
AMD technology is employed by the world's largest producer of flash memory
devices, Fujitsu AMD Semiconductor Ltd. (FASL). AMD flash memory products
encompass a broad spectrum of densities and features to support a wide range of
markets. AMD offers many flash memory products, such as the award-winning
Simultaneous Read-Write (SRW) product family; Super Low Voltage 1.8V flash
memory devices; and Burst- and Page-Mode devices. AMD developed the robust Known
Good Die (KGD) program and the patented negative gate erase technology, and
refined the industry-standard Fine-pitch Ball Grid Array (FBGA).
All AMD flash memory devices are guaranteed for a minimum of one million write
cycles per sector and 20 years' data retention, making them the most reliable
non-volatile memory devices in the industry.
About AMD
AMD is a global supplier of integrated circuits for the personal and networked
computer and communications markets with manufacturing facilities in the United
States, Europe, Japan, and Asia. AMD produces microprocessors, flash memory
devices, and support circuitry for communications and networking applications.
Founded in 1969 and based in Sunnyvale, Calif., AMD had revenues of $2.9 billion
in 1999. (NYSE:AMD).
Cautionary Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release
involve risks and uncertainty that could cause actual results to differ
materially from current expectations. The company's capacity expansion plans are
based on current forecasts of demand that are subject to change depending on
evolving general industry conditions, changes in customer needs, and the product
introductions and capacity expansion of competitors. While demand currently
exceeds production capacity, there can be no assurance that demand for the
company's flash memory products will continue at current or greater levels. We
urge investors to review in detail the risks and uncertainties in the company's
Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the
report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 26, 1999 and the report on Form
10-Q for the three month period ended April 2, 2000.
World Wide Web: Press announcements and other information about AMD are
available on the Internet via the World Wide Web. Type amd.com at the
URL prompt.
Note to Editors: Readers may obtain additional information by calling
800/222-9323 or 408/749-3060. Technical Support Email: hw.support@amd.com
AMD, the AMD logo, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro
Devices, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions.
CONTACT: Strategic Communications
John Greenagel, 408/749-3310
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