Posted on Saturday, July 26 2008 @ 23:32 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Last week several reports indicates AMD had intentions to spinoff its manufacturing plants but according to the chip firm this is not true. eWeek
heard from AMD that there are currently no plans to sell off fabs.
AMD is denying a report that appeared in the Austin American-Statesman that contains an interview with new CEO Dirk Meyer that seemed to indicate that the chip maker was preparing to spin off its manufacturing facilities in Germany and sell its two fabrication plants, or fabs.
The story appeared in the July 18 editions of the Statesman but was brought back to life July 23, when the Inquirer news site used the Meyer interview to bolster its own story that AMD is ready to sell off its manufacturing infrastructure as part of cost-cutting drive. The selling of the two German fabs could be seen as part of AMD's plan called "asset-smart" or "asset-lite," which has been much talked about in the past year.
In the Statesman story, Meyer appears to have confirmed that AMD will sell off its manufacturing facilities in a few months, and then a new company would form with different ownership. Drew Prairie, an AMD spokesperson, said Meyer was referring to how the company manufactures its wafers.
"He said it is 'fundamentally important to AMD to transform how we manufacture our wafers,'" Prairie wrote in an e-mail. This could refer to a number of improvements, including AMD's planned shift to 45-nanometer manufacturing later in 2008.
