AMD Fab 36 begins commercial shipments

At a press conference held in Munich, Germany today, AMD announced that in March it began first revenue shipments of AMD64 processors manufactured at Fab 36 in Dresden, Germany. AMD ramped the new 300 millimeter (mm) fab to 90 nanometer (nm) volume production in record time, hitting every major milestone on schedule and beginning production at mature yields.

The company also disclosed that it has been producing a significant number of 65nm development test chips in parallel with 90nm products at the fab, in preparation for volume 65nm production later this year. Fab 36 engineers, with the help of AMD's patented Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM) systems, are constantly analyzing data collected from the test chips and making consistent improvements. Fab 36 remains on track to begin 65nm production shipments in the second-half of this year, and be substantially converted to 65nm production by mid-2007.

"Our manufacturing strategy execution continues to be flawless," said Dirk Meyer, president and chief operating officer at AMD. "The increased capacity provided by Fab 36 will contribute to our goal of doubling total production output from 2005 through 2008. We are positioned better than ever to serve our customers' long-term needs and achieve our aggressive growth objectives."

The success of Fab 36 builds upon the tremendous achievements of Fab 30, which is located adjacent to Fab 36 and manufactures chips on 200mm wafers. Through the use of APM and other ongoing productivity and efficiency enhancements, AMD increased total production output at Fab 30 by approximately 80 percent from the first quarter of 2004 through the fourth quarter of 2005. The fab, which was originally designed to produce a maximum of 20,000 wafers per month, now produces approximately 30,000 wafers per month thanks to continuous improvements and innovative new operational methods developed and used at the fab.

Fab 30 and Fab 36 are the cornerstones of AMD's flexible capacity growth plan, which focuses on bringing the right amount of capacity online at the right time through ongoing, incremental increases to total output. Using this approach, AMD can continue to meet demand for its products and grow market share, while continuing to keep fab utilization levels high.

AMD continues to also increase its operational speed, accuracy and agility using APM, which includes hundreds of AMD patented technologies that dynamically and automatically optimize fab operations. Leveraging APM's unique capabilities, AMD continues to accelerate its responsiveness to customer needs, more quickly transition to new technologies, improve quality and operate at increasing levels of efficiency.

"Over the past decade we've perfected new, more innovative operational models such as APM that have made us faster, more accurate, more agile and more efficient," said Daryl Ostrander, senior vice president of manufacturing and technology at AMD. "As a result, we are introducing advanced technologies more seamlessly than ever before. We are ramping to high yields and volume production on new products faster. We are fully converting our fabs to the next technology generation at consistently accelerated rates."