Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

, commonly abbreviated as AMD, is an American

multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer
processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets.
The company was founded in 1969 by Jerry Sanders and a group of other technology
professionals. AMD's early products were primarily memory chips and other components for
computers. The company later expanded into the microprocessor market, competing with Intel,
its main rival in the industry. In the early 2000s, AMD experienced significant growth and
success, thanks in part to its strong position in the PC market and the success of
its Athlon and Opteron processors. However, the company faced challenges in the late 2000s
and early 2010s, as it struggled to keep up with Intel in the race to produce faster and more
powerful processors. In the late 2010s, AMD regained some of its market share thanks to the
success of its Ryzen processors which are now widely regarded as superior to Intel products in
business applications including cloud applications. AMD's processors are used in a wide range of
computing devices, including personal computers, servers, laptops, and gaming consoles. While
it initially manufactured its own processors, the company later outsourced its manufacturing, a
practice known as going fabless, after GlobalFoundries was spun off in 2009.
AMD's main products include microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded
processors, graphics processors, and FPGAs for servers, workstations, personal computers,
and embedded system applications. The company has also expanded into new markets, such as
the data center and gaming markets, and has announced plans to enter the high-performance
computing market.[citation needed]

History[edit]

AMD's former headquarters in Sunnyvale,

California (demolished in 2019) AMD's campus

in Markham, Ontario, Canada, formerly ATI headquarters

AMD's LEED-certified Lone Star campus in Austin, Texas
First twelve years[edit]
Advanced Micro Devices was formally incorporated by Jerry Sanders, along with seven of his
colleagues from Fairchild Semiconductor, on May 1, 1969.[2][3] Sanders, an electrical
engineer who was the director of marketing at Fairchild, had, like many Fairchild executives,
grown frustrated with the increasing lack of support, opportunity, and flexibility within the
company. He later decided to leave to start his own semiconductor company,[4] following the
footsteps of Robert Noyce (developer of the first silicon integrated circuit at Fairchild in 1959)
[5]
and Gordon Moore, who together founded the semiconductor company Intel in July 1968.[6]
In September 1969, AMD moved from its temporary location in Santa Clara to Sunnyvale,
California.[7] To immediately secure a customer base, AMD initially became a second
source supplier of microchips designed by Fairchild and National Semiconductor.[8][9] AMD first
focused on producing logic chips.[10] The company guaranteed quality control to United States
Military Standard, an advantage in the early computer industry since unreliability in microchips
was a distinct problem that customers – including computer manufacturers,
the telecommunications industry, and instrument manufacturers – wanted to avoid.[8][11][12][13]
In November 1969, the company manufactured its first product: the Am9300, a 4-bit MSI shift
register, which began selling in 1970.[13][14] Also in 1970, AMD produced its first proprietary
product, the Am2501 logic counter, which was highly successful.[15][16] Its bestselling product in
1971 was the Am2505, the fastest multiplier available.[15][17]
In 1971, AMD entered the RAM chip market, beginning with the Am3101, a 64-bit bipolar RAM.[17]
[18]
That year AMD also greatly increased the sales volume of its linear integrated circuits, and by
year-end the company's total annual sales reached US$4.6 million.[15][19]
AMD went public in September 1972.[8][20][21] The company was a second source for
Intel MOS/LSI circuits by 1973, with products such as Am14/1506 and Am14/1507, dual 100-bit
dynamic shift registers.[22][23] By 1975, AMD was producing 212 products – of which 49 were
proprietary, including the Am9102 (a static N-channel 1024-bit RAM)[24] and three low-
power Schottky MSI circuits: Am25LS07, Am25LS08, and Am25LS09.[25]
Intel had created the first microprocessor, its 4-bit 4004, in 1971.[26][27] By 1975, AMD entered the
microprocessor market with the Am9080, a reverse-engineered clone of the Intel 8080,[28][29][30] and
the Am2900 bit-slice microprocessor family.[29] When Intel began installing microcode in its
microprocessors in 1976, it entered into a cross-licensing agreement with AMD, which was
granted a copyright license to the microcode in its microprocessors and peripherals, effective
October 1976.[25][31][32][33][34]
In 1977, AMD entered into a joint venture with Siemens, a German engineering conglomerate
wishing to enhance its technology expertise and enter the American market.[35] Siemens
purchased 20% of AMD's stock, giving the company an infusion of cash to increase its product
lines.[35][36][37] The two companies also jointly established Advanced Micro Computers (AMC),
located in Silicon Valley and in Germany, allowing AMD to enter the microcomputer development
and manufacturing field,[35][38][39][40] in particular based on AMD's second-
source Zilog Z8000 microprocessors.[41][42] When the two companies' vision for Advanced Micro
Computers diverged, AMD bought out Siemens' stake in the American division in 1979. [43][44] AMD
closed Advanced Micro Computers in late 1981 after switching focus to manufacturing second-
source Intel x86 microprocessors.[41][45][46]
Total sales in fiscal year 1978 topped $100 million,[38] and in 1979, AMD debuted on the New
York Stock Exchange.[16] In 1979, production also began on AMD's new semiconductor
fabrication plant in Austin, Texas;[16] the company already had overseas assembly facilities
in Penang and Manila,[47] and began construction on a fabrication plant in San Antonio in 1981.
[48]
In 1980, AMD began supplying semiconductor products for telecommunications, an industry
undergoing rapid expansion and innovation.[49]

Technology exchange agreement with Intel[edit]

Intel had introduced the first x86 microprocessors in 1978.[50] In 1981, IBM created its PC, and
wanted Intel's x86 processors, but only under the condition that Intel also provide a second-
source manufacturer for its patented x86 microprocessors.[11] Intel and AMD entered into a 10-
year technology exchange agreement, first signed in October 1981[45][51] and formally executed in
February 1982.[34] The terms of the agreement were that each company could acquire the right to
become a second-source manufacturer of semiconductor products developed by the other; that
is, each party could "earn" the right to manufacture and sell a product developed by the other, if
agreed to, by exchanging the manufacturing rights to a product of equivalent technical
complexity. The technical information and licenses needed to make and sell a part would be
exchanged for a royalty to the developing company.[33] The 1982 agreement also extended the
1976 AMD–Intel cross-licensing agreement through 1995.[33][34] The agreement included the right
to invoke arbitration of disagreements, and after five years the right of either party to end the
agreement with one year's notice.[33] The main result of the 1982 agreement was that AMD
became a second-source manufacturer of Intel's x86 microprocessors and related chips, and
Intel provided AMD with database tapes for its 8086, 80186, and 80286 chips.[34] However, in the
event of a bankruptcy or takeover of AMD, the cross-licensing agreement would be effectively
canceled.[52]
Beginning in 1982, AMD began volume-producing second-source Intel-licensed 8086, 8088,
80186, and 80188 processors, and by 1984, its own Am286 clone of Intel's 80286 processor, for
the rapidly growing market of IBM PCs and IBM clones.[11][53] It also continued its successful
concentration on proprietary bipolar chips.[54]
The company continued to spend greatly on research and development,[55] and created the
world's first 512K EPROM in 1984.[56] That year, AMD was listed in the book The 100 Best
Companies to Work for in America,[48][57] and later made the Fortune 500 list for the first time in
1985.[58][59]
By mid-1985, the microchip market experienced a severe downturn, mainly due to long-term
aggressive trade practices (dumping) from Japan, but also due to a crowded and non-innovative
chip market in the United States.[60] AMD rode out the mid-1980s crisis by aggressively innovating
and modernizing,[61] devising the Liberty Chip program of designing and manufacturing one new
chip or chipset per week for 52 weeks in fiscal year 1986,[48][62] and by heavily lobbying the U.S.
government until sanctions and restrictions were put in place to prevent predatory Japanese
pricing.[63] During this time, AMD withdrew from the DRAM market,[64] and made some headway
into the CMOS market, which it had lagged in entering, having focused instead on bipolar chips.
[65]

AMD had some success in the mid-1980s with the AMD7910 and AMD7911 "World
Chip" FSK modem, one of the first multi-standard devices that covered both Bell
and CCITT tones at up to 1200 baud half duplex or 300/300 full duplex.[66] Beginning in 1986,
AMD embraced the perceived shift toward RISC with their own AMD Am29000 (29k) processor;
[67]
the 29k survived as an embedded processor.[68][69] The company also increased
its EPROM memory market share in the late 1980s.[70] Throughout the 1980s, AMD was a
second-source supplier of Intel x86 processors. In 1991, it introduced its own 386-
compatible Am386, an AMD-designed chip. Creating its own chips, AMD began to compete
directly with Intel.[71]
AMD had a large, successful flash memory business, even during the dotcom bust.[72] In 2003, to
divest some manufacturing and aid its overall cash flow, which was under duress from
aggressive microprocessor competition from Intel, AMD spun off its flash memory business and
manufacturing into Spansion, a joint venture with Fujitsu, which had been co-manufacturing flash
memory with AMD since 1993.[73][74] In December 2005, AMD divested itself of Spansion to focus
on the microprocessor market, and Spansion went public in an IPO.[75]

Acquisition of ATI, spin-off of GlobalFoundries, and acquisition

of Xilinx[edit]
On July 24, 2006, AMD announced its acquisition of the Canadian 3D graphics card
company ATI Technologies. AMD paid $4.3 billion and 58 million shares of its capital stock, for a
total of approximately $5.4 billion. The transaction was completed on October 25, 2006.[76] On
August 30, 2010, AMD announced that it would retire the ATI brand name for its graphics
chipsets in favor of the AMD brand name.[77][78]
In October 2008, AMD announced plans to spin off manufacturing operations in the form
of GlobalFoundries Inc., a multibillion-dollar joint venture with Advanced Technology Investment
Co., an investment company formed by the government of Abu Dhabi. The partnership and spin-
off gave AMD an infusion of cash and allowed it to focus solely on chip design. [79] To assure the
Abu Dhabi investors of the new venture's success, AMD's CEO Hector Ruiz stepped down in
July 2008, while remaining executive chairman, in preparation for becoming chairman of
GlobalFoundries in March 2009.[80][81] President and COO Dirk Meyer became AMD's CEO.
[82]
Recessionary losses necessitated AMD cutting 1,100 jobs in 2009.[83]
In August 2011, AMD announced that former Lenovo executive Rory Read would be joining the
company as CEO, replacing Meyer.[84] In November 2011, AMD announced plans to lay off more
than 10% (1,400) of its employees from across all divisions worldwide.[85] In October 2012, it
announced plans to lay off an additional 15% of its workforce to reduce costs in the face of
declining sales revenue.[86]
AMD acquired the low-power server manufacturer SeaMicro in early 2012, with an eye to
bringing out an Arm64 server chip.[87]
On October 8, 2014, AMD announced that Rory Read had stepped down after three years as
president and chief executive officer.[88] He was succeeded by Lisa Su, a key lieutenant who had
been serving as chief operating officer since June.[89]
On October 16, 2014, AMD announced a new restructuring plan along with its Q3 results.
Effective July 1, 2014, AMD reorganized into two business groups: Computing and Graphics,
which primarily includes desktop and notebook processors and chipsets, discrete GPUs, and
professional graphics; and Enterprise, Embedded, and Semi-Custom, which primarily includes
server and embedded processors, dense servers, semi-custom SoC products
(including solutions for gaming consoles), engineering services, and royalties. As part of this
restructuring, AMD announced that 7% of its global workforce would be laid off by the end of
2014.[90]
After the GlobalFoundries spin-off and subsequent layoffs, AMD was left with significant vacant
space at 1 AMD Place, its aging Sunnyvale headquarters office complex. In August 2016, AMD's
47 years in Sunnyvale came to a close when it signed a lease with the Irvine Company for a new
220,000 sq. ft. headquarters building in Santa Clara.[91] AMD's new location at Santa Clara
Square faces the headquarters of archrival Intel across the Bayshore Freeway and San Tomas
Aquino Creek. Around the same time, AMD also agreed to sell 1 AMD Place to the Irvine
Company.[92] In April 2019, the Irvine Company secured approval from the Sunnyvale City Council
of its plans to demolish 1 AMD Place and redevelop the entire 32-acre site into townhomes and
apartments.[92]
In October 2020, AMD announced that it was acquiring Xilinx in an all-stock transaction. The
acquisition was completed in February 2022, with an estimated acquisition price of $50 billion.[93]
[94]