AMD fails to hit K6 yield targets - again

The company produced a million K6 chips during the quarter but fell short of its target of between 1.2 million and 1.5 million units. In Q2 AMD reported a loss due to a shortage in K6 production but the company is standing by its claim that it will produce two million units in Q4.

"The targets were very aggressive," said Richard Baker, marketing manager for the PC products division. "We did fall short but we can sell everything we are making at the moment and of course we'd like to produce more. We are still confident that we can achieve the Q4 target of two million."

Baker dismissed the claims made by US analysts that system makers would lose faith in AMD if it could not achieve its target yields. "Will it affect us in the long term? No, not at all," he said. "We are supporting our customers and whether or not they trust us is not an issue."

AMD is still producing processors on both a 0.35 and 0.25 process, but is focusing on the 0.25, and is looking to get it in full production in the Austin, Texas, Fab 25 plant. In the US, AMD has admitted the production goal was not met because the company has not solved the yield problems, which include getting good die per wafer and high frequency or speed of the microprocessor. The company also been trying to address the production problems by creating task forces and re-focusing R&D.