Chartered Aims to Make AMD64 Microprocessors
 

AMD and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing on Tuesday announced they have entered into sourcing and manufacturing technology agreements whereby Chartered will implement under license portions of AMD’s Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM) software suite and become an additional manufacturing source of AMD64 microprocessors.

AMD Outsources Production

As the latest processors from Advanced Micro Devices – AMD Athlon 64 and AMD Opteron – face high demand across the industry and is likely to continue growing, AMD needs higher supply of its chips in order to gain market share in future. Chartered, who has fabrication technology similar to AMD, will begin integrating AMD’s APM into Fab 7, its 300mm wafer fabrication facility in Singapore, starting in the fourth quarter of 2004. AMD plans to have Chartered begin production in 2006.

“Chartered can produce chips compatible with either the IBM or the AMD 90nm process in its Fab 7 in Singapore. This new facility, Chartered’s first 300mm fab, will begin pilot production later this quarter, and should be in full production by mid-2005. Chartered expects to have capacity in place for 9000 wafer starts per month by the end of 2005, and 15 000 WSPM twelve months later. It’s not at all clear how much, if any, of this capacity AMD will tap when its 90nm processors are fully qualified in Fab 7 at the end of 2005,” principal analyst with Insight 64 Nathan Brookwood wrote in his short report titled “AMD Sets Sail on Chartered Waters”.

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