AMD claims it's catching Intel on 65 nano tech
 

ROBERT RIVET, chief financial officer of AMD, spoke at the Goldman Sachs technology investment symposium 2005 and gave a fair amount of details on its process plans.
AMD is on track to produce 65 nanometre processors, he said. While he said that Intel is clearly behind AMD on 64-bit technology, AMD won't be that far behind the firm on the move to 65 nanometre.

Reliable sources inside Intel claim Intel has already got 65 nanometre versions of its chips taped up and running at its development fabs.

He said that AMD's Fab 30 in Dresden will be in full 90 nanometre production by June. Its deal with Chartered Semi will come on line at the end of this year, or the beginning of next, in cooperation with IBM.

He said that AMD produced more than 30 million units at Fab 30, the majority of which were at 130nm. It's expecting to be able to make 50 million units this year on 90 nanometre technology, although that number will fluctuate, depending on market needs.

He said that AMD believes that it has enough capacity to serve all of its customers and that that when the 300 millimetre Fab 36 comes on line, the incremental number of units could amount to more than 100 million processors in a year.

He also indicated that AMD has a solid future in flash, despite it being a very dynamic business. AMD was number one in NOR flash in 2004, apart from the fourth quarter when Intel was number one.

But, he said, flash memory is one of the fastest growing segments in the semiconductor industry. It's a very competitive space and it's a very tough business to be in, he said. µ

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