Image: Wikipediaīy the time Intel released their first 8-bit microprocessor (the 8008) in 1974, AMD was a public company with a portfolio of over 200 products – a quarter of which were their own designs, including RAM chips, logic counters, and bit shifters. These microchips were designed to comply with US military quality standards, which proved a considerable advantage in the still-young computer industry, where reliability and production consistency varied greatly.ĪMD's first copycat CPU – the Am9080. The group was headed by Jerry Sanders, Fairchild's former director of marketing, They began by redesigning parts from Fairchild and National Semiconductor rather than trying to compete directly with the likes of Intel, Motorola, and IBM (who spent significant sums of money on research and development of new integrated circuits).įrom these humble beginnings, and headquartered in Silicon Valley, AMD offered products that boasted increased efficiency, stress tolerances, and speed within a few months. Others followed suit and less than a year later, another 8 people left and together they set up their own electronics design and manufacturing company: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, naturally). N M Electronics opened its doors in that summer, to be renamed just weeks later as Integrated Electronics – Intel, for short. These young technicians wanted to research and develop ever more exciting products, but with cautious senior managers mindful of the times when the world was fearful and unstable, frustration amongst the engineers build a desire to strike out alone.Īnd so, in 1968, two employees of Fairchild Semiconductor, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, left the company and forged their own path. Thriving after the hard years of World War II, this was the time and place to be if you wanted experience the forefront of technological innovation.Ĭompanies such as Bell Laboratories, Texas Instruments, and Fairchild Semiconductor employed the very best engineers, and churned out numerous firsts: the bipolar junction transistor, the integrated circuit, and the MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor).įairchild engineers, circa 1960 – Gordon Moore is far left, Robert Noyce is in the middle foreground To begin our story, we need to roll back the years and head for America and the late 1950s. ![]() In this feature we'll revisit the company's past, examine the twists and turns in the path to the present, and wonder at what lies ahead for this Silicon Valley veteran.Įditor's note: The third edition of this article was published at the end of 2022, see the most up-to-date version here. Where other semiconductor firms have come and gone, AMD has weathered many storms and fought numerous battles, in boardrooms, courts, and stores. ![]() Its story makes for a thrilling tale – filled with heroic successes, foolhardy errors, and a close shave with rack and ruin. AMD is one of the oldest designers of large scale microprocessors and has been the subject of polarizing debate among technology enthusiasts for nearly 50 years.
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