APRIL 13–DRESDEN, Germany–A mass of VIPs will raise their glasses next to celebrate the building of Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s Fab 36, according to German magazine c’t.

AMD’s 300 mm manufacturing facility is not scheduled to
open until 2005, and chips will roll off the production lines early in 2006, if all goes according to plan.

But that is not stopping early celebrations by dignitaries who include German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Saxon prime minister Georg Milbradt and AMD prime minister Hector Ruiz, the magazine says.

The 12-inch fab, said c’t, will cost $2.8 billion (2.4 billion Euros), and AMD has borrowed more than a half a billion dollars to build it.