AMD, Infineon and UMC to Jointly Develop Advanced
Manufacturing Platform Technologies Joint news release from AMD, Infineon and
UMC
Hsinchu, Taiwan and Munich, Germany, July 30, 2002. -AMD
(NYSE: AMD), Infineon Technologies [NYSE: IFX], and UMC (NYSE: UMC) today
announced plans to collaborate on the development of common 65/45 nanometer (nm)
manufacturing platform technologies for the high-volume production of
semiconductor logic products on next-generation 300 millimeter (mm) wafers. Each
of the three companies will supply engineering resources and expertise to
jointly develop common platform technologies, which will then be tailored by
each company to meet specific manufacturing and product requirements. Initial
work for the joint development program will take place at a UMC facility in
Hsinchu, Taiwan. With this initiative, Infineon expands upon an existing
agreement they have with UMC to develop 180/130 nm process technology and will
join the process development program AMD and UMC announced earlier this year
targeted for the 65 and 45nm nodes.
"In this third significant joint process development
program with UMC, Infineon will join highly qualified teams from UMC and AMD.
Whereas many companies are striving for cost reduction in R&D cooperations these
days, the three partners can already build on a considerable history and set of
experiences with successful implementation of such close alliances and therefore
are very confident to quickly get the expected benefits," said Dr. Andreas von
Zitzewitz, member of the board and chief operating officer of Infineon. "With
this joint program, Infineon again demonstrates its commitment to focused
cooperation in order to strengthen our leadership position in the semiconductor
industry."
"The joint development program announced today brings
together industry leaders and their expertise to deliver the next generations of
semiconductor technologies," said Robert Tsao, chairman of UMC. "With the
combination of Infineon's 300mm commitment and outstanding R&D talents coupled,
AMD's leadership in transistor and process development, and UMC's process and
manufacturing leadership , we are well positioned to be the first semiconductor
companies to deliver advanced nanometer technologies on 300mm wafers. In
addition, this three-way alliance promises tremendous benefit to customers who
will secure the advantage of the early introduction of the developed processes."
"AMD's joint development work with UMC and Infineon is a
prime example of the type of cooperation that will come to dominate the
semiconductor industry in the age of 300mm manufacturing," said Hector Ruiz,
president and CEO of AMD. "The effort with UMC and Infineon will form the
foundation for AMD's 65 and 45nanometer manufacturing technologies, and allow
AMD to put additional development emphasis in process technology areas that are
critical to our business and our customers, such as high-performance transistors
and interconnects."
With this latest development, Infineon and UMC add a
significant research and development activity to their cooperation portfolio,
which already includes a manufacturing joint venture known as UMCi. This 300-mm
manufacturing joint venture located in Singapore is expected to be ready for
equipment move-in in January 2003, with volume ramp up in the fourth quarter of
that year.
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).
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 130nm 0.13um copper/low k, embedded DRAM, and mixed signal/RFCMOS.
In addition, UMC is a leader in 300mm manufacturing with three strategically
located 300mm fabs to serve our global customer base: Fab 12A in Taiwan, UMCi in
Singapore (completion in 2002), and AU Pte. Ltd., a joint venture facility with
AMD also located in Singapore (production in 2005). 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.
About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers
semiconductor and system solutions for applications in the wired and wireless
communications markets, for security systems and smartcards, for the automotive
and industrial sectors, as well as memory products. With a global presence,
Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from
Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In the fiscal year 2001 (ending September),
the company achieved sales of Euro 5.67 billion with about 33,800 employees
worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is
available at
www.infineon.com.
Infineon and the stylized Infineon Technologies design
are trademarks and service marks of
Infineon Technologies AG. Any other trademarks appearing
herein are the property of their respective owners. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo and
combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Infineon and the stylized Infineon Technologies design
are trademarks and servicemarks of Infineon Technologies AG. Any other
trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.
