Press Release: AMD and UMC to
Collaborate on 300-MM Wafer Fabrication Facility in Singapore
Posted By
Kathy Smith
Date: February 1, 2002
Companies will Work Together on Technology Development and State-of-the-Art Manufacturing.
SUNNYVALE, CA - January 31, 2002 - AMD and UMC today announced a comprehensive alliance under which the two companies will establish a joint venture to own and operate a state-of-the-art, 300-mm wafer fabrication facility in Singapore for high-volume production of PC processors and other logic products. AMD and UMC also announced plans to collaborate in the development of advanced process technologies for semiconductor logic products. AMD and UMC separately announced a foundry agreement under which UMC will produce PC processors to augment AMD's Dresden Fab 30 production capacity for devices produced on 130-nanometer and smaller-geometry technology.
AMD and UMC will form a joint venture known as AU Pte Ltd. to own and operate the Singapore facility. The two companies expect to begin commercial production in the joint venture facility on 65-nanometer technology in mid-2005.
"Today's agreement reflects an innovative response to the tectonic shift that has changed the fundamental economics of the worldwide semiconductor industry," said W.J. Sanders III, chairman and chief executive officer of AMD. "The advent of 300mm manufacturing ushers in a new era for the semiconductor industry. Megafabs capable of producing complex semiconductor devices in huge volume on advanced process technologies will deliver significant economic benefits, but also entail significant investment that demands efficient use of capital. In this new competitive environment, I believe strategic alliances between leading companies will be the wave of the future."
"This is the first agreement under which a premier foundry company joins forces
in a broadly unified partnership with a leading integrated device manufacturer,"
said Robert Tsao, chairman and chief executive officer of UMC. "I expect our
collaboration will set the example for success between pure-play foundries and
leading semiconductor manufacturers. In the emerging arena of 300-mm
manufacturing, the traditional boundaries between these two types of companies
will blur as we move toward closer collaboration. Our respective customers
around the world will benefit as we join forces to develop leading-edge
technology and drive down manufacturing costs through rapid, cost-effective
implementation of the most advanced process technologies and manufacturing
practices."
"It is time to revisit the basic business model in the semiconductor industry,"
said Hector de J. Ruiz, president and chief operating officer of AMD.
"Flexibility and timing are still the keys to success - but the way to optimize
these has fundamentally changed.
"In the era of 300-mm manufacturing, flexibility will be an increasingly
important success metric. A 300-mm megafab can achieve cost savings of
substantially more than 30 percent compared to today's 200-mm manufacturing
facilities. The key to realizing these savings, however, is creating the kind of
operational flexibility necessary to maximize utilization rates," said Ruiz. "By
joining forces with UMC, we expect to achieve utilization rates that could
become a benchmark for the industry."
Ruiz also said that the joint venture with UMC will enable AMD to make the
transition to 300-mm manufacturing at precisely the right time. "One of the
important benefits of working with UMC on technology development is that we will
gain immediate access to an existing 300-mm wafer fab for R&D activities," said
Ruiz. "In the next few years, we expect to require substantial additional
production capacity. We believe the optimum time for us to make the transition
to high-volume production on 300-mm wafers is in the mid-2005 time frame when we
expect to be starting production on the 65-nanometer node.
By working together with UMC on technology development for 300-mm manufacturing,
we expect to achieve a very smooth transition," said Ruiz.
Ruiz also cited a process technology development collaboration between AMD and
Motorola as a model for future joint efforts with industry-leading partners.
"Our activities with UMC will closely parallel the way we have worked with
Motorola," said Ruiz. "With Motorola, we have shown we can maintain a leadership
position in critical process technology while controlling technology development
costs. The truly extraordinary results of our Fab 30 in Dresden show that
geographically distributed development teams can deliver results that exceed our
expectations, as well as those of our customers," Ruiz concluded.
About AMD
AMD is a global supplier of integrated circuits for
the personal and networked computer and communications markets with
manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan, and Asia. AMD, a
Fortune 500 and Standard & Poor's 500 company, produces microprocessors, flash
memory devices, and support circuitry for communications and networking
applications. Founded in 1969 and based in Sunnyvale, California, AMD had
revenues of $3.9 billion in 2001. (NYSE: AMD). AMD can be found on the web at
<http:// www.amd.com >.
About UMC
UMC (NYSE: UMC, TSE: 2303) is a world-leading
semiconductor foundry that manufactures advanced process ICs for applications
spanning every major sector of the semiconductor industry. UMC delivers the
cutting-edge foundry technologies that enable sophisticated system-on-chip (SOC)
designs, including 0.13-micron copper/low k, embedded DRAM, and mixed signal/RFCMOS.
In addition, UMC is a leader in 300mm manufacturing with three 300mm fabs
strategically located worldwide to serve our global customer base: Trecenti
Technologies in Japan, Fab 12A in Taiwan, and UMCi in Singapore (completion in
2002). UMC employs over 8,500 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan,
Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at
<http:// www.umc.com>.
AMD, the AMD logo, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro
Devices, Inc. Other product names used in this publication are for
identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective
companies.
PR Contacts
AMD
John Greenagel
Strategic Communications
408-749-3310
john.greenagel@amd.com
UMC
KJ Communications
Eileen Elam
(650) 917-1488
kjcome@cs.com
UMC In Taiwan
Alex Hinnawi
(886) 2-2700-6999 ext. 6958
alex_hinnawi@umc.com
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