About Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (abbreviated AMD; NYSE: AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Sunnyvale, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for commercial and consumer markets. Its main products include microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors and graphics processors for servers, workstations and personal computers, and processor technologies for handheld devices, digital television, and game consoles.

AMD is the second-largest global supplier of microprocessors based on the x86 architecture after Intel Corporation, and the third-largest supplier of graphics processing units. It also owns 21 percent of Spansion, a supplier of non-volatile flash memory. In 2007, AMD ranked eleventh among semiconductor manufacturers.

Advanced Micro Devices was founded on May 1, 1969, by a group of former executives from Fairchild Semiconductor, including Jerry Sanders, III, Ed Turney, John Carey, Sven Simonsen, Jack Gifford and three members from Gifford's team, Frank Botte, Jim Giles, and Larry Stenger. The company began as a producer of logic chips, then entered the RAM chip business in 1975. That same year, it introduced a reverse-engineered clone of the Intel 8080 microprocessor. During this period, AMD also designed and produced a series of bit-slice processor elements (Am2900, Am29116, Am293xx) which were used in various minicomputer designs.

During this time, AMD attempted to embrace the perceived shift towards RISC with their own AMD 29K processor, and they attempted to diversify into graphics and audio devices as well as EPROM memory. It had some success in the mid-80s with the AMD7910 and AMD7911 "World Chip" FSK modem, one of the first multistandard devices that covered both Bell and CCITT tones at up to 1200 baud half duplex or 300/300 full duplex. While the AMD 29K survived as an embedded processor and AMD spinoff Spansion continues to make industry leading flash memory, AMD was not as successful with its other endeavors. AMD decided to switch gears and concentrate solely on Intel-compatible microprocessors and flash memory. This put them in direct competition with Intel for x86 compatible processors and their flash memory secondary markets.

AMD announced a merger with ATI Technologies on July 24, 2006. AMD paid $4.3 billion in cash and 58 million shares of its stock for a total of US$5.4 billion. The merger completed on October 25, 2006 and ATI is now part of AMD.

About West Coast Engineering

For over 23 years, West Coast Engineering (WCE) has been supplying electronics to OEMs, CEMs and distributors worldwide. Located in Hawthorne California, near the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), West Coast Engineering has established itself as a premier independent distributor specializing in providing electronic components for the military, aeronautical, medical, automotive and commercial manufacturing industries. AMD is one of the hundreds of manufacturers that WCE carries on its linecard.

WCE has the techology and resources to handle any size transaction, no matter how big or small.

Quick Facts

• Founded: 1984
• Headquarters: Hawthorne, CA
• Other Locations: Futain, Shenzhen ▪ China PRC ▪ Brazil

West Coast Engineering is committed to providing the highest quality service to customers with its large diverse inventory stocked in its ISO9001:2000 and ESD compliant 70,000 sq. ft. warehouse. Year after year, West Coast Engineering has been considered a top independent distributor because of its principled reputation built on longstanding relationships with a dedicated customer base.

WCE's strategies differ from any other independent distributors. Listed below are some of the added measures that WCE takes to make sure that OEMs, CEMs and distributors have peace of mind when placing orders for electornic components, selling excess inventory, forming strategic alliances, and purchasing RoHS or
non-RoHS parts.