manufacturing

For China, the financial crisis is an opportunity

I asked my colleagues in frog design's Shanghai studio about their perspective on the current economic downturn, and here's what they wrote back:

"The US may be the initiator of this round of global economic recession but it may not be the final payer. China's economy is about to suffer as well - and in more ways than one.

And yet, the people who have been around the longest know not to pay too much attention to one-direction comments. They know that the sufferers will always shout much louder than the beneficiaries. They also know that … Read more

AMD talks more about chipmaking exit strategy

Advanced Micro Devices talked more about options for reducing its participation in a new manufacturing venture during its third-quarter earnings call on Thursday. The chipmaker also offered more details on conversion to 45-nanometer processors.

Earlier this month, AMD announced that it was splitting into two companies: one for designing chips (AMD), the other for manufacturing them (The Foundry Company). The latter company will be owned approximately 56 percent by Advanced Technology Investment Co. (ATIC) and 44 percent by AMD.

During the conference call, AMD Chief Financial Officer Bob Rivet responded to a question from an analyst about an "exit … Read more

AMD to spin off manufacturing

Update Tuesday 4:12 a.m. PDT: AMD has made the official announcement of the manufacturing spin-off.

On Tuesday, Advanced Micro Devices will announce a long-expected restructuring, according to sources familiar with the deal.

As expected, the No. 2 supplier of PC processors will split into two companies: one for designing chips, the other for manufacturing them. The capital-intensive business of manufacturing chips is weighing on AMD as it reels under a $5 billion debt load.

The investment is expected to allow AMD to remain directly involved in chip manufacturing--crucial for competing with Intel, which has used its manufacturing prowess … Read more

Apple's "Brick" manufacturing rumors - not so revolutionary?

Rumors are buzzing that Apple has been working on a revolutionary manufacturing process involving lasers and waterjets and solid blocks of aluminum for the upcoming MacBooks. The contention is that the rumored "Brick" product actually refers not to a product itself, but the manufacturing method for the MacBooks.

Site 9to5mac, who originated the rumor, state:

It is the beginning of the new Apple manufacturing process to make MacBooks. It is totally revolutionary, a game changer. One of the biggest Apple innovations in a decade.

The MacBook manufacturing process up to this point has been outsourced to Chinese or … Read more

Report: AMD will split into separate companies

Update on July 24, 5:50 p.m. PDT with additional information and corrections.

UPDATE: According to Kirk Ladendorf, the author of The Austin American-Statesman article, the Statesman will issue an update, likely sometime during the week of July 28. In short, it appears that AMD's contention that Dirk Meyer was misquoted is true.

Advanced Micro Devices will split into separate companies as it spins off its manufacturing operations, according to a report.

The Austin American-Statesman had one of the most unambiguous statements to date when it interviewed AMD's new CEO, Dirk Meyer, last week: "Meyer says … Read more

Details of AMD's manufacturing plans around the corner

AMD could finally be getting ready to explain how it intends to build chips in the future, almost a year after dropping hints that it would revamp its manufacturing strategy.

Hans Mosesmann, an analyst with Raymond James, believes AMD is about to reveal a new manufacturing strategy that will attempt to take some of the formidable costs out of making chips. Mosesmann thinks that AMD is considering spinning out its manufacturing operations as part of a joint venture with another company, making greater use of partners such as IBM and Chartered Semiconductor, or some such combination.

An AMD representative declined … Read more

Better machines through origami

Is making machines more efficiently as simple as folding paper cranes? Industrial Origami is betting that its technologies for folding sheet metal will help manufacturers cut costs and waste on the factory floor.

Industrial Origami's metal forming techniques work with existing manufacturing equipment but slash costs by 70 percent, said president and CEO Rick Holman. It offers a software add-on for CAD design systems.

Industrial Origami focuses on car parts and home appliances as well as heating and air conditioning system. It licenses its fold-and-cut technologies to Whirlpool and Eaton Electric, which makes enclosures for electric equipment.

Key to … Read more

AMD pays for IBM know-how in battle with Intel

AMD is leaning increasingly on IBM as it battles with Intel for next-generation microprocessor manufacturing leadership. And the payout to IBM is significant.

First some background: On Tuesday, AMD announced that IBM had successfully produced a working test chip using next-generation Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) lithography for the critical first layer of metal connections across an entire chip. Previous projects utilizing EUV produced working chip components on only a very small portion of the chip.

Why EUV? The size of transistors and the metal lines that connect them is directly related to the wavelength of light that is used to project … Read more

Panasonic to expand image sensor plant

Panasonic plans to spend 94 billion yen, or $860 million, to add a new facility to its image-sensor manufacturing plant in Tonami, Toyama Prefecture, Japan, the company said Thursday.

The consumer electronics giant will begin construction in September and manufacturing in August 2009, the company said. It will use the plant to build sensors for digital cameras, vehicles, camcorders, broadcasting gear, and medical equipment, Panasonic said.

The 48,000-square-meter plant will be able to manufacture 30,000 200mm-diameter wafers per month. Silicon wafers are large circular crystals from which processors are made.

Blow away the Joneses with a ceiling TV

Once upon a time, just having a wall-mounted flat-panel TV was enough to make a huge impression by itself. Never satisfied, of course, showy consumers have since tried to one-up each other with plasmas and LCDs that lift from cabinets, hide behind mirrors, and pop up from the bed frame or even out from underneath it.

So what's left? The ceiling, of course.

The "Automated Ceiling Lift" from Chief Manufacturing "will make your TV like a drop-down projection screen," according to Electronic House. And it's not one of those small drop-down numbers like those … Read more