14 DAY TRIAL // According to the new chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices, Dirk Meyer, AMD has already started pilot production for microprocessors on the 45 nanometer manufacturing process. The statement, made during a conference call with financial analysts, also included the announcement that the chip developer has everything working according to plan, and that it will be able to begin shipping the devices in volume starting with the early fourth quarter of the year.
"We are well on track with the 45nm plan as we have been telling this group about in the past. We have actually started production late last quarter and are on track to start buying shipments early in Q4," said Dirk Meyer during the conference call.
The previous details revealed that AMD would actually be able to deliver the new 45 nm microprocessors in the late fourth quarter of 2008. It seems that the company became a little more optimistic regarding the transition to the 45nm process technology.
AMD has been planning the conversion to 45nm for quite a long time now. Two years ago, in mid-2006, Daryl Ostrander, senior vice president and manufacturing and technology, made a presentation to financial analysts and investors announcing that AMD's Fab 36 was set for 45nm production for mid-2008. This way, the transition was set to start a year and a half after the 65nm, but with a delay of about six months in comparison to Intel, which started shipping 45nm in late 2007.
According to AMD, the middle of 2009 will mark the complete conversion to the 45nm fabrication process for its entire production capacities.
"Typically it takes us three-four quarters to flip the factories once we start so that would say it would be largely converted roughly in the middle of next year. Much of the capital expense we are bearing now is in support of that plan," said Mr. Meyer.
Advanced Micro Devices is definitely working hard to regain its market share on the central processing units area. The company experienced a period of decline lately, especially after the acquisition of ATI, and it also had to face a strong competition from rivals Intel and Nvidia, but it managed to mark a steady comeback to the top, culminating with the launch of powerful and competitive products in the GPU market area this summer.