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AMD Announces A Shift In Focus From PC Processors
slughead writes "Forbes Magazine is reporting that AMD will no longer compete with Intel to make faster, smaller, and more efficient processors. Just as Mac users would be worse off if Windows didn't exist, Intel users will be much worse now that AMD will no longer compete. You see, there's this thing called demand, and when there are no competing products in a market, a good or service will always increase the price to the economic equilibrium, unless forced not to by the state (forget that right now, communists!!). In English: you're going to get less new technology, and higher prices on existing technology." On the other hand, AMD is definitely not exiting the chip business -- they're just trying to branch out from chips for microcomputers.
I really don't see anywhere in the article where it actually says that "AMD will no longer compete with Intel to make faster, smaller, and more efficient processors."
There's something else called supply which is what actually changes when a more aggressive supplier enters the market, moving the equilibrium price to a new spot on the same demand curve. As long as you're handing out patronizing lectures on microeconomics...
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
AMD will probably still have the best bang for your buck desktop processors but they wont be as fast, and that is all right with me. I never buy the absolute fastest cpu as I do not like to pay out my ass for the litte bit of extra performance that is not absolutely necessary.
Viral software licensing is not freedom, it is in fact GNU/Socialism.
It seemed that AMD couldn't make money even when the Athlon was the hottest thing going (literally and sales-wise), simply because the PC market is so driven by price. It takes far more R&D costs to come up with a processor that can compete with the latest from Intel, and the profit per unit is probably abysmal.
To compete with Intel, they were finding that they had to compete in every area, in order to please the OEMs it was courting. They had to make a mobile chip, they had to make a low-cost chip, and a multiprocessor-capable chip, and now they're hard at work on a 64-bit chip. All of which will sell a fraction of what Intel will sell but with similar R&D costs.
It's just another example showing that it's very hard to compete against an entrenched monopoly.
___
Cogito cogito, ergo cogito sum.
Their president said that they're branching out into different markets, and Forbes went on the comment that this is a shift away from an emphasis solely on the PC market. But nobody said that AMD is going to stop making chips for PCs.
I don't see this as necessarily being a bad thing. The consumer computer processor market is a funny market today--the fabs cost billions to construct, the research costs millions and these chips are some of the most complex things ever created--and you can get then for $50 basically.
What's the point of every home user having a 3.0GHz processor? I'm not saying "640k should be enough for anyone" but at the moment, few applications (minus gamers) even need a 1ghz processor to shine--processors will no doubt continue to improve but until some radical paradigm shift in computing, it won't be that big a deal (memory, 3d cards, bandwidth are where I see the possibilities for a lot of improvement).
Let AMD get into market where the r&d is lower, and the margins are higher, this sounds like a good thing to me.
AMD's prices are just *dirt* chip, this is why they aren't making any money. An 800mhz PIII chip costs 89$, on pricewatch (which I would never buy from by the way). 87$ buys you an Athlon 2100 cpu, which is just about 1ghz faster then the intel part. AMD's processors are an amazing value, but AMD has to have trouble making a profit on them.
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
I think this is in the best business interests of AMD. I am a software developer by trade, and gamer by hobby. For years I was on the bleeding edge of technology (and paying a hefty sum for the bragging rights). I used to dabble in overclocking/custom cooling and really "pushing the preformance" on my machines. But the truth is, right now, as a software developer (VS.net[C#/C++], Java, Perl, Python) and a gamer (Worms, Warcraft III, Natural Selection), I simply feel no pressing need to upgrade my system.
In the days of 3.06Ghz HT boxes and 64bit processors... my systems are meek by comparison... My primary machine is a Sony Viao Laptop 1.0Ghz (AMD) with 512 + 40gig IDE (15.1 inch screen). My gaming machine is a 1.7Ghz (P4) with 1024 + 120gig WD (Special Edition). Yet despite my primary machine being 1/3rd the fastest(and more so if you count the advantage of HT) in the industry -- I feel no pressing need to upgrade.
The bottom line is, nowadays I don't feel like I am waiting for my system todo what I ask it too-- and until that feeling returns due to more powerful [or more bloated] software, I don't think I will be running out to buy a machine based on CPU.
If AMD is cheaper, cooler and does everything I need to in a smarter way (sound like Transmeta's plan anyone?), they will get my bucks.
For those too lazy to click though, here's a sample quote:
It says nothing about "not competing with Intel". What a load of sensationalist crap.
Slashdot.
Tabloid News for nerds.
-- kwashiorkor --
Leaps in Logic
should not be confused with
Jumping to Conclusions.
I've been waiting for YEARS to get me an AMD branded toaster oven. Wonder if it'll use Athlons as the heating elements?
In fact before AMD started hounding Intel in the x86 market they made a wide range of processors and chips! I do electronic repair work for the military and I see plenty of older and newer boards with chips from AMD, Motorola, and TI. Not too many from Intel.
I understand the vision they have about future computing, if you try to shove a AMDXP or PIV in ever piece of hardware you will limit your capabilities greatly. There are times when a RISC processor will do a better job then a chunking x86.
Sure their stock took a hit, but those damn investors always freak out when change is in the air.
This SIG pulled due to lack of funding. (This damn war is costing too much!)
Unless the temperature in your house is regularly exceeding 100F
Let me tell you as someone who knows quite a bit about heating and cooling -- that's not entirely true. One or two degrees in the case can equate to one or two more degrees in the case
Because the inside of a computer is generating heat, that generated heat has to go somewhere in order for the system to stay cool. In most cases that heat is dispersed out of the case. The cooler the ambient temperature, the easier that heat flows out. Quite simply, cooler air takes heat off of a heatsink easier than than warmer air, even if the difference is only a few degrees.
The difference between a 72 degree room and a 75 degree room can be enough to take an otherwise rock solid system and turn it into something that crashes non-stop. Given just a little more heat, It may become too unstable to even post all the time.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
Is there a way to mark this whole thing as a Troll?
Also, I don't think it's fair to assume Intel's primary domain is purely in PC Chips. Their work in Communications chips is nearly as important, and is becoming more so. I think they're trying to develop it into a stronger market force in the next few years.
All circuits busy.
Didn't AMD just mention that it planned to surpass Intel as the world's number 1 chip maker?
And I quote:
AMD BOSS HECTOR RUIZ says AMD is "dead serious" about ousting Intel to become the number one player in the "computational processor market".
"We're not just trying to be a good number two," he said.
Ruiz claimed its "competitor" had done "everything possible" to keep it from competing in new segments of the market but, despite Intel's best efforts, AMD was on course to make significant progress in a number of areas.
Surely AMD didn't change its entire business direction and core corporate strategy in a matter of days. It seems to me that there is a misunderstanding, and seeing as how the Forbes article quoted not one single comment from AMD brass stating that they "will no longer compete with Intel", I think it's Forbes, and the story submitter.
I seem to recall rumors back when AMD was kicking ass that Intel planned to leave the PC CPU business to pursue more "long term profitable measures." Well, what sure doesn't seem to be the case.
Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
How is it that this forbs article got an entilrely different spin on what AMD is doing from everyine alse who reported on the same event and was sitting in the same rooms for the same lecture?
Again here is the headline. I will decode some of what may not be obvious.
1) The first thing is the title which you could maybe read to mean what the slashdot article makes this story out to be, but technically they dont say that AMD is moving out of PC processors or anything remotely like that.
2) The story actually comes from rueters, not forbes, so they just picked a meaty article to post on their site, not necessiarily paying much attention to any possible fud or slant. Again not the most responsible, but not as bad as the slashdot article.
3) Dont know who this guy is, but probalby a reuters hack.
4) "LAS VEGAS, Nov 19 (Reuters)" - this was from the same stuff on the same day as all of the other Ruiz (AMD CEO) articles, but this is the most creatively different article (besides slashdot) that I have read so far.
5) The leading paragraph is true as is technically the rest of it.
6) The other two paragraphs I show here, when mixed with the title, is where people might begin to get the wrong idea and where I think they could have done a better job. I dare say that this is the part where it could seem slanted.
7) The last sentence in the excerpt that I show above is the "hook" for the article. Its where an actual statement is made as proof of the "moving away" title. It is this sentince that makes it sound like AMD is not doing PC things at all for these guys.
I'll try to counter a few of these:
- Cray is going to be made of commodity PC processors. Many/most of the super computers these days are made with commodity procesors (and many of the other parts are commodity as well).
- The Lucus pre-rendering was done on PCs and there was never a mention of *not* user PCs for any other work. Here is a real quote form a real reporter: "Using the Athelon processor, JAK Films was able to help realize George Lucas' vision of his fantastic world," Ruiz explained after a brief onstage chat with Star Wars robot character R2D2. http://www.showgo.com/storytest.cfm?story_id=2054
- And as for gibson: It features a "hexaphonic" pick-up that transfers the analog sounds of the strings to a digital format. The signal is then moved via Ethernet to an AMD Athlon 64-bit digital audio workstation (DAW), where it can be amplified, modified or blended with other musical instruments. The technology will allow musicians to collaborate and jam with others even if they're in different cities around the world.
http://www.showgo.com/storytest.cfm?story_id=2054 (same as other link).
Thanks for reading
are "fast enough" for consumers, at least for the time being, and are looking at a PC marketplace in the near future where MOST (typical users) will be satisfied with their PC experience for several years to come. With a shrinking market for NEW PC cpus they should logically look elsewhere to sell their product, elsewhere being other consumer markets, whatever they may be.
A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
Intel isn't exactly betting the farm on the PC market, either. Although Itanium isn't quite as do-or-die for Intel as the Hammer series is for AMD, they both know full well that making CPU's for PC's will be a shrinking part of their revenues. Making chips for servers is the market they are both shooting for. The margins are much higher and the market is actually growing at a good clip, unlike the PC market.
So I guess this may be bad news for folks who want really cheap bleeding-edge performance on their desktops. But business users don't need any more performance on the desktop than they already have, and even gamers are increasingly looking toward GPU's and not CPU's as the most important factor for performance in their systems. Intel and AMD are laying their bets in the server room.
Given that AMD already has the technology in hand to deliver more bang-per-buck than Itanium and with a smooth and solid migration path, this may be the most sensible move they've made in years.
Yes, I can't really understand why AMD would pull out of potentially the most lucrative area of the chip market, having gained an extremely tough-to-gain foothold there!
/., well for us 1GHz is plenty.
They aren't pulling out of the PC processor market, they are saying that demand for high end processors is weak and the cost of R&D to produce 5GHz+ chips may not be made back. So they are changing their focus away from competing with Intel on the very top end. When the market picks back up and suddenly everybody is demanding enough processing power to run their own simulation of a thermonuclear detonation, then AMD will spend more R&D money on top end processors. They won't stop producing Athlons, they will stop investing huge chunks of money into making faster chips.
For most people like myself who only use their computer for 3D gaming, software development, video & image editing, writing papers, checking email, talking on IRC and reading
Much of this is a response to the fact that they're asking for a $300million note, and the market they are in is depressed.
Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
Edward Everett (1794 - 1865)
Here is the actually press release from AMD. Theres nothing in there that says they are stopping consumer chips (infact, they talk about the 64bit chip, and unreal). they do mention that they are 'branching out' Microsoft branched out from Operating systems (everything from keyboards, to chairs, to crappy networking hardware) but they still make the same great os!
If I remember correctly, Intel just released its 3.0 GHz chips. If I were AMD, and I wanted Intel to slow down a bit, I'd want them comfortable and happy in their current position so they didn't have quite the same sense of urgency about developing newer, better, faster technology.
;)
In fact, I might just start off with such a press release. I might continue by quietly starting up subsidiary firms, owned by the AMD corporate head office, and moving people and tech over to those companies, while making a big show about how the AMD CPU processor focus is being back-burnered, production factories are being retooled for different things, the corporate vision is changing (frequently), etc... All the signs of a firm that is visionary, bold, courageous - in other words, about to show up at fuckedcompany.com.
And when Intel was sitting pretty, regaining market dominance and feeling pretty good about its position vs. "former competitor" AMD, AND the market is starting to boom and demand is increasing, AMD could release something that blows Intel's doors right off.
Yes, it's risky. Long term profit in the face of a short/medium bear market usually is.
AMD is saying that besides desktop chips, they are also moving into workstation and server chips. How exactly is this "pulling out from competition with Intel"...? Quite the contrary, they will now be competing not only with the Pentium and Celeron, but also with the Xeon and Itanium (and with chips from Sun, HP, etc.). And judging from the support they're getting before even releasing the Hammer, I'd say their future looks quite bright indeed.
I'm sorry for the rant, but for the last couple of years Slashdot has become a swamp. Half the articles are from someone pushing their personal agenda ("Microsoft sucks", "Apple rules", "Person X is a bastard", etc.), and the other half are simply wrong. The readers then comment on the Slashdot "news items" without even bothering to read the original articles (thus propagating the ignorance) and finally the moderators mod things as "interesting" or "insightful" without bothering to see if they're even remotely true.
RMN
~~~
AMD has a very effective roadmap ahead for Athlon, where it basically goes head to head with Celeron. Athlon is smaller and faster there. Hammer is expected to debut at 3400+ ratings and Opteron is expect to hit 4000+ and higher in 2003. Besides being faster, these chips will have native 64 bit capability which P4 lacks. They will smoke P4 across the board, and have a smaller die size to boot.
If AMD can execute (every sign is they can) they should take off during any tech recovery. Believe me, when Hammer starts selling like hot cakes, the CEO will sing a whole different tune! :-)
Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
Score: -1 100% Flamebait