AMD Looks To Expand In Asia

SINGAPORE — Advanced Micro Devices Inc. plans to boost investment in Asia and may open a new fab here soon, AMD President and CEO Hector Ruiz said here Tuesday (Dec. 6).

Ruiz said the company was expecting revenues to rise over 35 percent in 2005 as it captures more market share from rival Intel, up from 28 percent last year.

He said AMD would "continue expanding" in Singapore, where it runs a test and design facility, and where it has plans to outsource some of its assembly, adding to a regional presence that also includes assembly operations in Malaysia and a test, mark and pack plant in Suzhou, China.

AMD also intends to "aggressively" ramp up its partnership with Singapore-based foundry Chartered Semiconductor, Ruiz said.

Though all the company's fabs are currently located in Dresden, Germany, Ruiz said AMD was actively evaluating other locations for a new factory. "We believe we have to start building another factory in 2006, and are seriously considering many options," Ruiz said.

The CEO said the availability of trained workers and the financial incentives offered by potential host countries would be the two main factors in the final decision on a location for the new facility.

"The availability of knowledge workers is really strong in countries like the United States, some parts of Europe and in Singapore, so from that perspective Singapore would have to be one of the places to consider," he said.

"There's a variety of things that countries are offering, not only incentives and taxes but also financing," Ruiz added. "A 1-percent difference in the cost of capital could make all the difference for a company over a period of 10 years, which is the life cycle of a factory. This could have a huge impact on the health of the business."

Ruiz expressed confidence that AMD would continue to see strong growth due to continued demand in the enterprise and home computing sectors.

Among the factors "driving the healthy outlook of computing technology" are the introduction of 64-bit chips and the rapid growth of developing markets such as India and China, he said.

AMD will concentrate its resources on multicore and mobile technologies, Ruiz said. The CEO said AMD would "go more aggressively" into multicore products "for at least the next five years."

"Multi-core technology is the future, we're going to see that everything from mobile computing to servers," he added.

AMD also plans to bolster its mobility offerings by creating in 2006 an "open platform" for mobile computing that will allow consumers to mix and match "best in class" platform components instead of opting for what he dismissed as Intel's "mediocre" all-in-one Centrino solution.