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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (7935)	11/9/2003 2:39:52 PM
From: Sam Citron	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

S'pore back in the race to host leading AMD fab [Business Times S'pore] Chance comes after the company revives plan for 65nm plant By RAJU CHELLAM (SINGAPORE) Singapore may yet get a second chance to host the world's first cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing facility following a decision by US chip giant Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) to go ahead with its 65-nanometer fab. Second chance, because the first plan - by AMD and Taiwan semicon giant United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) last year to build a US$4 billion, 65nm fab here - was aborted after AMD announced a technology partnership with IBM Corp and the deal with UMC fell through. A nanometer is a billionth of a metre. On Thursday, NYSE-listed AMD's top officials told market analysts in California that the company needs to be ready with a 65nm fab in about two years and that AMD will share the cost of the facility with another manufacturer. The current cutting edge is 90nm. 'We have a preferred site but have not yet finalised the negotiations,' an AMD Singapore spokeswoman told BT. 'After an extensive process of due diligence, we have narrowed our options and the potential sites for our next manufacturing facility. We expect to provide additional details later this quarter.' AMD occupies about 345,000 sq ft at its Chai Chee facility, including a 260,000 sq ft production centre that does microprocessor testing, quality and process control. The site also conducts testing, failure analysis, device analysis and integrated-circuit (IC) design for AMD's microprocessor products. The company employs 1,200 people here. Singapore could be a major attraction because of this country's push and expertise in the semicon space. 'There are four wafer fab parks here that occupy 260 ha of land,' an EDB spokeswoman said. Singapore is also home to 31 IC design houses, 18 test and assembly facilities, and about 160 other companies in supporting industries. 'This level of concentrated semicon expertise in a tiny city like Singapore should benefit any cutting-edge fab that decides to locate its manufacturing or test and assembly facilities here,' one analyst said. Industry watchers said AMD may locate its newest fab either in Singapore or in New York where IBM and AMD researchers already work together on research projects in IBM's East Fishkill facility. 'New York is aggressively courting semiconductor makers,' CNet News reported. It quoted New York Governor George Pataki as saying that the state has created 'shovel ready' sites complete with water, power and transportation facilities. Other possibilities include sites in China, Germany and Texas. Sunnyvale, California-based AMD reported sales of US$954 million for its Q3 ended Sept 28, up 88 per cent year-on-year. Its Q3 net loss was US$31 million, its ninth straight quarterly loss. The company employs 14,380 people worldwide and said it plans to start hiring as the semicon sector looks set for a strong rebound. business-times.asia1.com.sg