Tablets with AMD technology on shelves by 2012

AMD, which has Abu Dhabi's Mubadala as its largest shareholder, will be developing microchips for tablet devices that could be available as early as next year.

Tablet devices equipped with microchips made by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are on track to be on store shelves as "early as next year", said the head of the company's technology division.

AMD, which makes the microchips that provide the main computing power for personal computers and servers, is waiting for advances in battery life technology for the company to begin developing for tablet devices.

"We don't have a crystal ball but we do see an explosion of [growth] in different form factors such as tablets," said Chekib Akrout, the senior vice president and general manager for AMD's technology group (CK).

"We are getting ourselves prepared for potentially even more disruptive technology over the next five years. The way we play it is to think of mobility at higher levels so we don't get ourselves squeezed in different form factors."

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Mubadala Development Company, a strategic investment arm owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, is AMD's largest shareholders with a 19.3 per cent equity stake in the company.

AMD's hesitation into entering the mobile electronic market segment was cited as one of the main reasons why its former chief executive Dirk Meyer stepped down last month. AMD is currently being led by Tom Seifert, the company's chief financial officer, on an interim basis.

Mr Akrout said that the management situation at AMD was "stable" and the company is looking forward to the appointment of a new chief executive officer.

Intel, AMD's chief rival, has already made several forays into developing microchips processors for the mobile market and is currently seeking partners for its MeeGo operating system.

Nokia was developing mobile devices for MeeGo but dropped the platform when it announced a partnership with Microsoft and its Windows Phone 7 operating system last week.