Founded in 1969 and based in Sunnyvale, California, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and technology partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home and play.
- Headquarters: Sunnyvale, California
- Established: 1969
- Employees: 14,700 worldwide (as of 12/27/2008)
- New York Stock Exchange Listing: AMD
- 2008 Sales: $5.8 Billion
In 2008, AMD operated manufacturing facilities in Germany, Malaysia, People's Republic of China, Singapore, and the United States with sales offices in major cities around the globe. Deriving approximately 88 percent of our revenue from international markets in 2008, we are truly a company of the world. Shares of the company trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AMD.
Moving Forward - Significant Changes
AMD began a major multi-year transformation to refocus company resources on our core business of computational products. Beginning in 2005, AMD divested its Flash memory operations into a Flash memory joint venture between AMD and Fujitsu Semiconductor named Spansion, Inc. In October 2006, AMD acquired ATI Technologies (ATI), a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative 3D graphics, PC platform technologies and digital media silicon solutions. ATI offered leading-edge performance solutions for the full range of PC and Mac desktop and notebook platforms, workstation, set-top and digital television, game console and handheld device markets. In 2007, we completed the integration of ATI, thus positioning the company to pursue many new and fast-growing markets.
Also in 2007 we evolved our strategy - known as Asset Smart - to create a business model with the goal of delivering profitability and leadership in core x86 computing and graphics business. As part of that strategy, we began divesting non-core assets and putting a model in place that would help ensure our continued access to leading-edge manufacturing without having to shoulder the increasingly prohibitive costs of semiconductor manufacturing. To fulfill the strategy, AMD underwent several organizational changes:
- In October 2008, we completed the sale of our Digital Television business unit to Broadcom Corporation.
- In the first quarter of 2009, we completed the sale of certain graphics and multimedia technology assets and intellectual property that were formerly part of our Handheld business unit to Qualcomm Incorporated. In January 2009, approximately 170 AMD employees accepted employment with Qualcomm.
- On March 2, 2009 AMD closed a strategic transaction with the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) and Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi, launching a U.S.-headquartered semiconductor foundry known as GLOBALFOUNDRIES. GLOBALFOUNDRIES manufactures semiconductor products and provides certain foundry services to AMD. As a result of this transaction, approximately 2,800 employees moved to GLOBALFOUNDRIES.
AMD believes that being a responsible company is a continuous journey that creates long-term shareholder value by managing economic, social, and environmental risks and opportunities. By institutionalizing these three aspects - embedding them into strategies, policies, processes, and standard business practices - AMD and GLOBALFOUNDRIES can maximize their value to society.
Building on its AMD legacy, GLOBALFOUNDRIES has integrated corporate responsibility into its operating model and associated policies and practices. More information about GLOBALFOUNDRIES' Corporate Responsibility program is available here.
In addition, more detailed information about AMD's overall global climate strategy and initiatives is available in AMD's Global Climate Protection Plan.
AMD Products and Platforms
We are a global semiconductor company with facilities around the world. Within the global semiconductor industry, we offer primarily:
- x86 microprocessors, for the commercial and consumer markets, embedded microprocessors for commercial, commercial client and consumer markets, and chipsets for desktop and notebook PCs, professional workstations and servers
- Graphics, video and multimedia products for desktop and notebook computers, including home media PCs and professional workstations, servers and technology for game consoles
In 2008 we continued our focus on developing integrated computing solutions, or computing platforms, which combine microprocessors, GPUs, chipsets and core software. In 2008 we launched AMD Business Class, an initiative dedicated to developing AMD processor-based commercial desktop and notebook platforms designed specifically for businesses, the "Puma" platform for notebooks, the "Yukon" platform for ultrathin notebooks and the "Dragon" platform for desktop PCs.
In May 2009, we put into place a new organizational structure designed to optimize AMD's operations to drive further integration of our industry-leading x86 processor and graphics technologies through platform and silicon integration.
Computation Solutions Group
AMD microprocessors power millions of personal computers (PCs), workstations, and servers of home and business users around the world. We currently offer single-core and multi-core microprocessor products for servers, workstations, notebooks and desktop PCs. Our current microprocessors are designed with both 32-bit and 64-bit processing capabilities. Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processors with Direct Connect Architecture for servers and workstations deliver outstanding performance within a consistent footprint and thermal envelope for a stable platform and simple upgrades. Enterprise customers and small and medium businesses can deploy AMD Opteron processor-based servers and workstations for enhanced power efficiency, optimal virtualization capability, cloud computing capability and significant savings in total cost of ownership.
Our Embedded products range from high-performance AMD Opteron™ and AMD Athlon™ processors with Direct Connect Architecture for enterprise-class storage and networking equipment to highly versatile and efficient Mobile AMD Sempron™ and AMD Turion™ 64 X2 processors for unique high-performance, small form factor applications. We design embedded connectivity devices to address customer needs in PC-adjacent markets such as network attached storage, telecommunications and networking equipment, internet access devices and other similar applications. Typically these embedded processors are used in products that require high to moderate levels of performance where key features include low cost, mobility, low power and small form factor. Our embedded microprocessor products also include the AMD Geode™ product family.
7 of the 10 fastest supercomputers in the world are powered by AMD processors
Our portfolio of chipset products (the primary input/output device on a platform) includes IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) and discrete chipsets targeting both the desktop and notebook PC segments. In March 2008, we introduced the AMD 780G Series chipset powered by ATI Radeon HD 3100 integrated graphics. This chipset was designed for significant enhancements in gaming and high-definition experiences for mainstream PC customers. In June 2008, the AMD-7 Series chipsets came to the notebook segment; the AMD M780G chipset delivered the same great graphics features to AMD-based notebooks. These chipsets were some of the first to add integrated support for the High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) to address the trend toward HD in many flat panel monitors and televisions. In August 2008, we introduced the AMD 790GX chipset. This new desktop chipset matched ATI Radeon HD 3400 integrated graphics, improved power management and PCIe support for diverse configurations.
Graphics Products Group
AMD provides 3D graphics and video and multimedia products developed for use in desktop and notebook PCs, including home media PCs, professional workstations and servers and customized visual processing technology for the game console market. The primary product is the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). The GPU off-loads the burden of graphics processing from the CPU, and uses its highly-parallel architecture to accelerate a broad range of applications. In this way, a dedicated GPU and CPU work in tandem to increase overall speed and performance of the system. The discrete GPUs for desktop and notebook PCs include the ATI Radeon™ HD 4000 series and the ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4000 series of products. Our products for the professional workstation market consist of our ATI FirePro™ and ATI FireStream™ product families.
Our PCTV products incorporate a wide variety of features to allow consumers to add broadcast TV to their PCs, to watch and record TV on their PCs, listen to FM radio stations and watch DVD movies, and includes ATI Theater™ technology and ATI TV Wonder™ products. Our customized GPUs process the graphics in the Microsoft® Xbox 360™ and Wii™ from Nintendo.