We were a little unconvinced by German federal economics minister Gnter Rexrodt’s assertion that Advanced Micro Devices Inc would build a European microprocessor plant in Dresden, and it turns out that he was just electioneering: Advanced Micro says it is in early stage discussions, and that crucial issues about the excessive cost of employment in Germany and the difficulty of persuading unionised employees to work a plant round the clock seven days a week – something essential for efficient running of a chip plant – have even been discussed yet, which suggests that the more compliant workforces in Scotland and Ireland still have a very good chance of winning the plant; the reason you need to work a wafer fab seven days a week is not only the need to get an adequate return on the enormous investment, but also the problem that if you close it down on Friday and start up again on Monday, much of Monday’s wafers will yield only duff chips.
