AMD 2008 Financial Analyst Day Highlights

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AMD 2008 Financial Analyst Day Highlights

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During executive presentations at the 2008 AMD Financial Analyst Day, AMD presented roadmaps for platforms that span the most popular usage scenarios for PC customers at work, at home and at play. The company also provided additional details on its manufacturing technology strategy. This document highlights the main news of the day.
Server Platforms:

· AMD today announced widespread availability of its 45 nanometer Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processor, codenamed “Shanghai.” The new processor delivers up to 35 percent more performance with up to a 35 percent decrease in power consumption at idle.[1] AMD also detailed widespread and rapid customer adoption of the new processor, with more than 25 server systems expected to be available by year’s end from global computer manufacturers.

· AMD provided additional details on its server platform roadmap, planned to advance its trademark approach to platform longevity with maximum flexibility and customer choice.

o “Fiorano,” the first AMD platform to combine AMD server processors and chipsets, is on schedule for mid-2009 introduction based on the planned release of the AMD SR5690 chipset. “Fiorano” is expected to support “Shanghai” and the upcoming six-core “Istanbul” processor in 2H09, and significant improvements in I/O and virtualization performance, power efficiency, RAS, and manageability are expected.

o AMD disclosed more details associated with its next-generation server platform, “Maranello,” which remains on track for introduction in 1H10. “Maranello” is a DDR3-based server platform which is expected to offer a new socket infrastructure to support upcoming 8-core “Sao-Paulo” and 12-core “Magny-Cours” processors.





ATI Stream Commercial Offering:

· AMD announced via a news release the new AMD FireStream™ 9270 compute accelerator and the latest version of its free and open ATI Stream Software Development Kit (SDK), version 1.3. Both are designed to help researchers, technical professionals and IT organizations use mainstream computing platforms to address challenges that once would have required multi-million dollar investments in proprietary hardware and software.



Desktop Platforms:

• AMD offered details on the upcoming platform codenamed “Dragon”, its second generation enthusiast-class desktop PC platform. AMD confirmed that “Dragon” is set to launch in Q1 2009 and feature its upcoming 45nm AMD Phenom™ II X4 quad-core processors, codenamed “Deneb.” The AMD Phenom II brand will be introduced with the “Dragon” platform to signal enhanced processor performance and efficiency. At launch the high-performance platform will also consist of acclaimed AMD 79O Series chipsets and award-winning ATI Radeon™ HD 4800 Series graphics. Optimized for gaming, digital media and video processing, the platform also includes DirectX10.1 graphics, ATI Stream, AMD OverDrive™software,[2] and the AMD Fusion for Gaming Utility.[3]

• “Kodiak” is scheduled to enhance AMD Business Class platforms in 2H09, with enhanced manageability, power efficiency, and our 45 nm generation of AMD Phenom processors.

• Extending the AMD lead in HD computing on consumer PCs, the 2H09 “Pisces” mainstream desktop platform is designed to provide a visibly superior experience for consumers. It will combine AMD Phenom II quad- and triple-core processors with DDR3 memory and upcoming RS880 chipsets.

· “Maui” is the new AMD home theater platform that is designed to integrate the devices needed to drive high definition televisions or displays from a nearly limitless variety of sources. It makes extensive use of the extensive features of Microsoft Vista Home Premium or Ultimate editions. The platform includes options for AVR class 7.1, 5.1 and 3.1 audio, HDTV tuning, plus the ability to play DVDs, Blu-ray discs,[4] CDs, pictures and slide shows, internet content, on line movie rentals,[5] as well as PC functions to let you work or play games. Maui is planned for introduction in Q408.



Notebook Platforms:

· AMD revealed details on its next-generation mainstream notebook platform, codenamed “Tigris.” It is set to include new 45nm dual- and single-core mobile processors, code named “Caspian,” and upcoming RS880M and SB710 mobile chipsets. Expected in 2H09, “Tigris” is expected to offer significant enhancements to the first-generation AMD notebook platform, including enhanced HD video playback, mainstream gaming on the go, improved battery life and faster performance, all with an easy platform upgrade process for OEMs.

· AMD also announced a follow-on 2010 notebook platform code named “Danube.” As a “Tigris” refresh it is set to feature new “Champlain” CPUs which will be the first quad-core mobile processors offered by AMD specifically for the notebook market.



ATI Stream Consumer:

· AMD announced via a press release that on Dec. 10, it plans to release a free ATI Catalyst™ driver update that instantly unlocks new ATI Stream acceleration capabilities already built into millions of ATI Radeon™ graphics cards.

· ATI Stream-enabled software titles for entertainment, gaming and productivity are being released or are under development by a growing list of the world’s top independent software vendors (ISVs), including Adobe, ArcSoft, CyberLink and Microsoft.

· To give users immediate benefit from ATI Stream, AMD also plans to release on Dec. 10 a free downloadable version of its ATI Avivo™ Video Converter utility.

· This intuitive, easy-to-use application enables transcoding of HD video up to 17 times faster than with the CPU alone, even when using a mainstream ATI Radeon™ HD 4000 series card.[6]

· Rick Bergman, Senior VP and General Manager, Graphics Products Group, demonstrated the free ATI Avivo™ Video Converter utility during his presentation, showing an example of how this free utility can convert video significantly faster than competitive offerings, which offerings must be purchased for use.



Next Generation Technologies for Next Generation Graphics

· AMD confirmed that it plans to transition to 40nm manufacturing process in 2009. Additionally, AMD committed to extend its leadership in Microsoft DirectX technologies, including the anticipated DirectX 11 transition in 2009, thereby ensuring that ATI Radeon™ HD graphics cards will continue to allow gamers and developers to enjoy the latest in graphics technologies.



Manufacturing Technology

· On October 7, AMD and the Advanced Technology Investment Company announced their intention to create a new global enterprise, The Foundry Company, to address the growing global demand for independent, leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing. This announcement was the lynchpin of AMD’s Asset Smart plan, and a key initiative designed to enable the company to achieve sustainable profitability. At the 2008 AMD Financial Analyst Day event, AMD provided more details on what its manufacturing operations will look like once the spin-out of The Foundry Company is complete.

o For the Silicon on Insulator (SOI) and bulk manufacturing processes needed to build AMD CPUs and APUs, The Foundry Company plans to offer AMD 65nm, 45nm and 32nm manufacturing capabilities at:

§ Fab 36 (Dresden)

§ Fab 38 (Dresden)

§ Fab 4x (Saratoga County, NY)

o For the bulk manufacturing processes AMD uses to manufacture its chipsets and GPUs, AMD plans to have access to 55nm, 40nm and 32nm manufacturing capabilities at:

§ TSMC/UMC (Taiwan)

§ Fab 38 (Dresden)

§ Fab 4x (Saratoga County, NY)

§ The Foundry Company also provided an update on its progress towards moving to a new 32nm manufacturing process for bulk and SOI production. The company confirmed that it will complete 32nm test chips in Dresden by the end of year, and is on schedule to successfully incorporate High-k Metal Gate within this process node. 32nm technology development will ramp in late 2009 in preparation for 1H 2010 volume production.



New Low Power Mobile Platforms

During the past few quarters, there has been a great deal of hype around the ultra-portable notebook and mini-notebook markets, because of the small form factor and lightweight profile such devices offer. To capitalize on the growing interest in these form factors, AMD announced new platforms aimed at serving these markets.

· AMD introduced the “Yukon” platform, a sleek new mobile platform that delivers a full PC experience to the ultra-portable and mini notebook markets. Featuring a slim processor implementation and a thermal design point of less than 25W combined for the processor and the chipset, the “Yukon” platform is scheduled for delivery during Q1 2009.

· AMD has also added “Brazos,” a low cost, low power mobile PC platform to its roadmap. The “Brazos” platform will use a new “Ontario” processor, a dual-core System on a Chip (SoC) implementation of the upcoming “Bobcat” core. This platform, which will use DDR3 memory and offer PCI Express G2, is scheduled to be available in 2011.

· Also in the 2011 timeframe, AMD plans to introduce a brand new notebook and desktop platform to market called “Sabine,” built around the “Llano” APU. The system on a chip (SOC) will feature integrated DirectX 11 graphics, DDR 3 1866 memory, PCI Express G2, and the new SB 900 Southbridge. “Llano” is planned to bring additional CPU and graphics performance, with significant battery life improvements to the notebook and desktop markets.
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