That would be the unit that sells graphics chips to dedicated PC gamers and others that pay top dollar for blazing speed. Its latest offering is definitely styled as a silicon Ferrari, not a Honda Civic.

“A single one of these is the fastest thing on the planet,” says Devon Nekechuk, a product manager at the AMD operations in Canada, acquired as part of the 2006 acquisition of ATI Technologies.

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The company also told analysts Tuesday it should be able to reach gross profit margins of 44% to 48% in 2011–up from a prior target of 40% to 45%–and said a long-term goal of 50% should be achievable.

AMD’s technology milestone, part of a strategy called Fusion, opens a new chapter in AMD’s longtime competition with Intel Corp. Where AMD has often lagged its much larger rival in microprocessors, it believes the technology acquired through the $5.4 billion purchase of ATI Technologies provided a lead in an emerging breed of products that AMD calls APUs, for accelerated processing units.

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Good day everyone … and thank you for joining us. For the past few years, we have been very open in outlining the major steps for AMD’s transformation into a processing powerhouse:

• From the acquisition of ATI Technologies;
• To the formation of GLOBALFOUNDRIES; and
• The creation of AMD-The Product Company,
  o with a single business unit,
  o a reinvigorated roadmap,
  o a new business model,
  o And a close relationship with a world-class leading-
  edge foundry.

Today, I am pleased to announce the last major component of that transformation–in the form of a transparent and public agreement with Intel to create a level playing field in the x86 processor industry–taking us one big step closer to achieving our bold vision.
There are three key components to the agreement:

• First, Intel has agreed to an important set of ground rules that we hope will define the path to a free and open market in the microprocessor industry;
• Second, we have agreed to a new patent cross-license agreement that gives AMD broad rights and the freedom to operate a business utilizing multiple foundries,
• And third, GLOBALFOUNDRIES has agreed to terms that allow them the freedom to operate as an independent world-class leading-edge foundry company, going forward, without being a subsidiary of AMD.

In addition, Intel has agreed to pay AMD $1.25 billion.

Today marks the beginning of a new era… one that confirms that the game has changed for AMD. It is an important milestone for us, for our customers, our partners, and most important–for consumers and businesses worldwide. In addition, it represents the culmination many years of litigation and regulatory engagement.

And we are optimistic that it will usher a new era for our industry. We recognize that it will take time for people to understand how operating conditions in the processor business have changed–but make no mistake–they have changed.

I would like to thank the regulatory agencies around the world for their diligence and consistency. Their work has enabled us to achieve this milestone. We are optimistic they will continue their vigilance in maintaining a level playing field, especially with respect to exclusionary practices in our industry.

Looking forward to three keys to our continued success: Compelling offerings; Access to customers and channels, And a winning business model.

We are optimistic this agreement addresses concerns about customer and channel access and our business model. We look forward to healthy competition with the mutual respect one would expect between world-class competitors.

The smaller Silicon Valley microprocessor maker expanded its focus several years ago by buying ATI Technologies, known for the chips called graphics processing units that generate realistic-looking scenery in videogames. AMD says the high-end GPU it announced last week sports a whopping 2.15 billion transistors.

That’s more features than any chip now for sale by Intel, which prides itself on packing the most tiny components on a given square of silicon. AMD used a production process at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) that creates lines of circuitry measured at 40 nanometers, or billionths of a meter; that is a bit finer than the most advanced chips currently on the market from Intel, which have features rated at 45 nanometers.

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The company said that the Initial Determination of the judge upheld the validity of the patents, but found no infringement. Tessera had asserted infringement against the ATI Technologies unit of Advanced Micro Devices, Fresscale Semiconductor, Motorola, Qualcomm, Spansion and STMicroelectronics.

Tessera said it is “disappointed” in the ruling and will review the decision before determining its next steps.

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