AMD has doubled its foundry orders for GPUs, according to Taiwan’s Commercial Times newspaper. The orders are for AMD’s new 55nm GPUs due to be launched next month.
AMD’s orders, which have been put on both TSMC and UMC, are said to amount to a total of 30,000 wafers: 4-5,000 in March; 8-9,000 in April; 10,000 for May and another 10,000 for June.
Both TSMC and UMC are reported to have re-engaged all production workers at all their 12-inch fabs after putting some on unpaid leave.
Last week TSMC, increased its Q1 revenue forecast citing renewed Chinese OEM ordering.
According to DigiTimes, fab utilisation at TSMC and UMC has now reached 50-60% band it is expected to rise to 60-70% in Q2 of 2009.
Prospects for AMD’s GPU have boosted AMD’s shares which went from $2 to $3 in a fortnight in March, and are showing a 28% gain on the year to date.
With the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) rising from 188 to 230 in March, there are general signs of a strengthening in the semiconductor industry.
Vincent Roche, Analog Devices’ v-p for worldwide sales, said ADI expects the chip industry to recover in the first half of this year.
Texas Instruments recently firmed up on a previously vague Q1 forecast, while Freescale CEO, Rich Beyer, said: “We’re seeing modest signs of stabilisation in individual market areas. I feel better about where we are than I did 90 days ago.”
Europe’s leading semiconductor analyst, Malcolm Penn, CEO of Future Horizons, said: “When the semiconductor recovery comes it will come quickly, and the recovery will be steep.”