Commentary: Who won AMD's foundry business?

Mark LaPedus, EE Times
(08/08/2008 3:28 PM EDT)
 
For some time, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has been talking about its asset lite efforts, without providing any concrete details about its plans. As previously reported, AMD can no longer afford to keep up with Intel Corp. in IC manufacturing, forcing the troubled microprocessor vendor to devise a new fab-lite--or fabless--strategy in order to focus on design.

But AMD's constant leaks about its asset lite plans are getting tiresome. By the time AMD announces its asset lite strategy, will anyone care?

The public won't care. AMD's customers might. Its foundry partners are certainly paying close attention. Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Pte. Ltd. is handling some foundry business for AMD. Hard to believe that Chartered's volumes are large for AMD. Meanwhile, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) is making devices for AMD's graphics chip unit, ATI.