SUNNYVALE, CA-OCTOBER 5, 2005-AMD (NYSE: AMD) supports the publication of new computer hardware procurement guidelines by Austria’s Bundeskanzleramt and the National Public Procurement Policy Unit (NPPPU) of Ireland’s Department of Finance. The guidelines are intended to assist procurement authorities in the two countries promote competition and obtain the best technology at the best price by avoiding descriptions that could lead to discriminatory and non-competitive bids.

“AMD welcomes the Austrian and Irish governments’ actions precisely because they are designed to fuel competition in public technology procurement,” said Giuliano Meroni, AMD’s corporate vice president, Sales and Marketing, for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “In countries across Europe and around the world, ensuring that public sector IT procurement is based on tried and true principles of fair and open competition brings value to taxpayers and governments alike. By taking measures to eliminate discrimination based on product or brand names or other partial technical features, governments worldwide can ensure that they obtain the best technology at the best price.”

The use of certain supplier brands or products in public tender documents as well as of some partial technical features such as the clock rate or the cache of the microprocessor are illegal under established European Union procurement law (e.g. EU directive .93/36).  The publication of the Austrian and Irish guidelines follows similar publications already issued by the Belgian, French, German, Italian, Swedish, UK, Japanese, Canadian and U.S. governments.