AMD opens US$16m Shanghai R&D centre
By Liu Baijia (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-23 08:50
US microprocessor manufacturer AMD yesterday opened its Shanghai research and
development (R&D) centre, the firm's largest overseas R&D
investment.
The opening of the R&D centre, AMD's second on the
Chinese mainland, which involves a total investment of US$16 million, points to
the growing role China is playing in the firm's efforts to catch up with its
arch-rival Intel.
Around 100 engineers will work at the centre,
with the number expected to grow to 400 within two years.
AMD currently
has about 70 development engineers working in Beijing and 200 in
Taiwan.
"The establishment of the Shanghai R&D centre is a stage in
our 'walking' period in China," said Dirk Meyer, president and chief operating
officer of AMD.
Comparing his company's development to the growth of an
infant, Meyer said AMD, which began to invest heavily in China in 2002, had now
just passed the "crawling" stage.
In the "walking" stage, the US firm
wants China to become a more important part of its global operations, and will
base some of its business units' global headquarters in China, which will
develop products for global markets.
The Shanghai centre will focus on
the development of AMD's microprocessors used in notebook computers, as well as
validating and testing solutions for computer makers in the domestic and
international markets.
AMD, which has been trying to challenge industry
behemoth Intel in recent years, has made significant progress in the global and
Chinese markets.
China is the world's second-largest computer market and
manufactures 80 per cent of the world's computers, with Lenovo Group, China's
biggest computer manufacturer, being a major user of AMD products.
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