AMD exit leaves Indian chip fab vacuum

INDIAN CHIP FAB Semindia has been ambandoned by AMD, after a three-year deal came to an end.

The firm is now scouting out new business, according to Bangalorean media.

B.V. Naidu, managing director, SemIndia Fab in Hyderabad, denied there had been a "breakup or anything of the sort with AMD."

"We are talking to a few potential partners regarding the fab facility for both a strategic and a financial partnership," Naidu told EE Times.

"The response for strategic partnerships are encouraging, but it is not so in the case of a financial partner. Still, we hope to have an arrangement in both these regards soon."

Bob Kondamoori, MD of Sandalwood Partners, an investor in Semindia, told the Financial Chronical, many companies were "in a wait-and-watch mode because of the economic situation and downturn in semiconductor industry. Many of them are themselves looking to sell their fabs."

Rumours that AMD might buy into the Indian fab were scotched by the emergence of the asset-light mantra, the report suggests. µ

L'INQ
EE Times