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AMD may produce G4 chips in Dresden

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) may have trouble making

money from its Intel-based processors, the company could soon be reaping

in a handsome gain from making PowerPC chips. Motorola is reportedly in

talks with AMD to use some of its most advanced chip fab facilities in

Dresden, Germany to produce Motorola’s G4 PowerPC chips.

Neither company has confirmed a deal involving AMD making the G4

processors is imminent. Motorola’s inability to manufacture the G4s in

sufficient quantity has already caused Apple Computer to announce this

week that its profits will suffer from the shortage of the chips. A G4

deal will help Motorola catch up to Apple’s booming demand for G4

processors. Apple has a backlog of several hundred thousand G4 computers.

The deal would also help cash-strapped AMD generate an infusion of

money and make better use of the available capacity of its Dresden plant,

which will also produce the new K7 Athlon chips. The Dresden plant uses

advanced copper interconnect manufacturing processes developed by Motorola

and provided to AMD under the terms of a seven- year agreement struck in

July 1998. AMD plans a grand opening of the $1.9 billion state-of-the-art

German plant next month and will begin commercial production of the Athlon

chip these early next year.

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