AMD has begun its first revenue generating shipments of AMD64 processors from its new Fab 36 facility in Dresden, Germany. Fab 36 is currently producing 90nm processors on 300mm wafers -- 65nm sampling will start in the second half of 2006. The company is on track to shift the majority of Fab 36 production to 65nm by the middle of 2007. With the addition of Fab 36, AMD plans to double chip production output through 2008.

Fab 36 is located adjacent to Fab 30 which currently produces chips on 200mm wafers. AMD is leveraging the power of its patented Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM) system to constantly boost production efficiency at its fabs. With the help of APM, AMD was able to boost maximum chip output from 20,000 wafers per month to 30,000 per month at Fab 30. With the help of APM, Fab 36 will also benefit from increased production efficiency over the course of its life.

"Over the past decade we’ve perfected new, more innovative operational models such as APM that have made us faster, more accurate, more agile and more efficient,” said Daryl Ostrander, senior vice president of manufacturing and technology at AMD. “As a result, we are introducing advanced technologies more seamlessly than ever before. We are ramping to high yields and volume production on new products faster. We are fully converting our fabs to the next technology generation at consistently accelerated rates.”