DRESDEN, Germany (AP) - U.S. semiconductor-maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. on Friday inaugurated a new factory in eastern Germany to meet rising demand for 64-bit microprocessors.
AMD has invested some US$2.5 billion (euro2.1 billion) in the factory in Dresden, in once-communist eastern Germany. Authorities provided hundreds of millions of euros (dollars) in subsidies to secure the investment.
The company said it expected to ship its first products from the plant, which will employ 1,000 people, in early 2006. It said output could rise to 100 million units a year by 2008.
The factory will produce 300-millimeter (12-inch) wafers, on which processors can be built.
AMD chairman and chief executive Hector Ruiz told Germany's Handelsblatt business newspaper that the plant should help the company raise its share of the market for PC processors from 20 percent to 30 percent, closing the gap on market leader Intel Corp.
Sunnydale, California-based AMD, which makes microprocessors, flash memory devices for the computer, communications and consumer electronics industries, already operates one factory in Dresden, employing 2,000 workers.
The U.S. firm's investments have helped turn Dresden into one of the few thriving areas of economically depressed former East Germany.
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