Advanced Micro Devices Rumoured to Make Chips in Russia

From X-bit Labs: Advanced Micro Devices, the world’s second largest designer of x86 central processing units, is reportedly in talks with state-owned Rusnano company over a semiconductor manufacturing joint-venture in the Russian Federation. The details of the project are somewhat shady to say at least since the amount of investments that Rusnano is ready to provide is by far lower than the cost of a leading-edge chip fab.

A top manager of one of three semiconductor manufacturers in Russia said in an interview with RBCdaily news-paper that Rusnano was ready to invest up to $500 million into a joint-venture with AMD. The chip making facility is projected to make microprocessors for smartphones using 65nm manufacturing process. A source with knowledge of the matter has confirmed the media that Rusnano was negotiating with AMD, but did not provide a single detail. It is not clear when the potential fab may become operational.

“There are various options [for establishing a semiconductor joint-venture]. Chip manufacturing can be established in Russia, abroad or set up abroad, and then transferred to Russia. In any case, at present there are no production capacities [for making chips using 65nm process technology in the country],” a source with knowledge of the matter is reported to have said.

Alexander Belenkiy, the head of AMD Russia, has confirmed that the chief executive officer of Rusnano, Anatoly Chubais, has met with executives from Advanced Micro Devices, but made no comments about possible chip making joint-venture.

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