Re: A.M.D. to Split Into Two Operations

Robert Myers wrote:
> On Oct 12, 7:50 pm, Del Cecchi` <dcecchinos...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> Robert Myers wrote:
>>> On Oct 12, 3:00 pm, Del Cecchi <delcecchinospamoftheno...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>>> wrote:
>> snip
>>
>>>> Fantasy.  IBM helped AMD with fab projects and SOI, for which IBM
>>>> received considerable money.
>>> Forty-five million dollars.  Chicken feed for the biggest coup in the
>>> the microprocessor revolution.  Without it, AMD was dead in its tracks
>>> and Power was a dead duck right along with it.
>> The numbers I heard were way more than 45 million, and didn't have
>> anything to do with 64 bit architecture and chip design stuff that I
>> think you are referring to.
>>
> The forty-five million number was discussed right here.  Perhaps  you
> were not a participant in that discussion, but this is not the first
> time that you and I have discussed IBM's pulling AMD's technical fat
> out of the fire.  Timing was everything.  The time that IBM bought AMD
> killed Itanium as anything more than a marginal player.  You can tell
> me that it's all paranoid fantasy, if you like, but it all worked just
> too beautifully well for IBM.  The self-righteousness of IBMdroids is
> galling.  To say that IBM had no interest in the matter or that it
> didn't lean on the scale is ludicrous.
> 
> I never said anything at all about the chip design.  It's
> uncharacteristic of you to rebut arguments I never made..
> 
> Robert.

OK, couple minutes with google....

http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3412251

"IBM and AMD have extended their chipmaking contract through 2008 in an 
effort to make smaller and faster Us.

Under the extended agreement, AMD will pay IBM between approximately 
$250 million and $280 million to jointly develop new logic processes, 
including 65-nanometer (nm) and 45nm technologies.

The current contract was to expire at the end of the year. Sunnyvale, 
Calif.-based AMD revealed the extension as part of a statement filed 
with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday. "

It goes back to IBM making chips for AMD in 1998 (K6)

and just now, to 2011 for another 400 Million. 
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-9880862-64.html

"This development follows a series of joint disclosures over the past 
six years that highlight the crucial expertise that IBM provides to AMD. 
The two companies began cooperating on advanced chip manufacturing in 
2002, when AMD was having trouble with silicon-on-insulator technology, 
or SOI. AMD got SOI to work with help from IBM and they have been 
renewing agreements periodically since then. First, in September 2004, 
to include development of technologies through 2008 for 32nm 
manufacturing and then again, in November 2005, the agreement was 
extended through 2011 for the 22nm process. In other areas, AMD is now 
cooperating with IBM on "high-k/metal gate" transistor technology for 
next-generation 32nm chips--a technology that Intel is employing in its 
current 45nm chips.

This kind of know-how is not cheap. AMD's 2007 10K form says the 
following about the agreement that extends to December 31, 2011: "We 
anticipate that, under this agreement, we will pay fees to IBM of 
approximately $400 million in connection with joint development projects 
between 2008 and 2011."


So it is not some trivial 45 million.  That might have been some ETS 
contract for design help (I knew some of the guy worked on that). This 
is real money.

And zinging Itanium is something I never heard mentioned in the 
hallways.  In fact we were working on Itanium based machines for Xseries 
until Itanium got in trouble.


There may have been AMD fanboys on this group who worked for IBM but I 
saw no evidence of such behavior among the IBM product developers I 
worked with.  But I guess you can believe whatever you want.

del