AMD wanted to make things crystal clear what is its Fusion brand all about. It is not a mere Centrino counterpart, it is AMD’s new key brand that encompasses everything.
According to AMD “the new Fusion company brand was designed to address marketplace directions that AMD identified through internal research, and is intended to focus on the ways in which the AMD combination of technologies, coupled with close relationships with computer manufacturers and a deep understanding of customer needs, results in solutions that address experiences at work, at home and at play.”
This rather complicated explanation actually means that Fusion is not meant to be a platform name such as Centrino to Intel and it is AMD’s new overall brand that represents AMD as a whole.
AMD also got back to us saying that Puma is AMD’s answer to Centrino but at the same time Puma never made it to brand and it remained rather popular codename that got lost under many AMD stickers.
Since Microsoft decided to brand its OS simply Windows 7 and since AMD is not using Fusion, AMD might do the same making Fusion the the brand of all brands that will stay on top of many products just below the key brand AMD.
Yeah we know its complicated but it doesn’t mean that AMD has finally decided what to do with this brand, but for now Fusion is what AMD is all about.
Spurce : http://www.fudzilla.com/
Showing posts with label AMD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AMD. Show all posts
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Awards up for grabs
HEWLETT-Packard (HP) and AMD have joined hands in offering the HP and AMD Scholarship 2008 Programme.
About RM75,000, inclusive of cash and three HP Pavilion tx2520au entertainment notebook PCs powered by AMD, are up for grabs by eligible undergraduate and Masters students pursuing their studies locally.
Aimed at making a contribution to the development of human capital in Malaysia, the awards are open to all Malaysian citizens aged 30 and below.
The closing date for application is Sept 30.
Three lucky candidates will be selected.
Those who are interested in applying should log on to www.hp.com.my/scholarship.
Just complete the submission form and answer a question creatively, in less than 150 words.
“This is the first time HP is working with AMD in such a meaningful programme.
“HP has always been committed to contributing to the education sector and this is one of several programmes we have in the pipeline,” said HP country general manager (Personal Systems Group) Danny Lee.
The scholarship is bond-free.
“There are many talented individuals out there seeking higher education to strengthen their knowledge base and enhance skill sets,” said AMD Malaysia’s country manager Kevin Ho.
“We are proud to work with HP to provide the opportunity for students seeking to reach greater heights but lacking the means to do so.
“Hopefully, this programme will alleviate their financial burdens and produce leaders in the respective fields,” he added.
To promote the scholarship programme, HP will be holding roadshows at various universities and colleges, including INTI College Subang Jaya and Universiti Putra Malaysia (Sept 3), HELP University College (Sept 10), and SEGi University College, Kota Damansara campus (Sept 17).
For more information, visit www.hp.com.my/scholarship.
From : http://thestar.com.my/
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
AMD shares up after deal to sell unit to Broadcom
NEW YORK
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. climbed Monday after the chip maker struck a deal to sell a money-losing unit that makes chips for digital TVs.
The stock added rose 12 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $5.93. The stock, which has been pummeled in recent months, has ranged from $4.05 to $14.73 over the past year.
AMD said it would sell the TV unit to Broadcom Corp. for $192.8 million in cash as part of a move to focus on its core operations.
AMD accounted for the TV unit and a cell phone chip unit as discontinued in the second quarter, and took an $876 million writedown to their value. Both units came along with AMD's purchase of graphics-chip maker ATI Technologies in 2006.
Deutsche Bank analysts led by Bob Gujavarty said the sale "may modestly improve AMD's prospects for profitability," but estimate that the business only recorded a small loss.
"AMD should be more focused company, but now is even more dependent on the fortunes of the PC market for revenue," the analysts wrote.
AMD is a distant second to Intel Corp. in the market for computer processors.
From : http://www.businessweek.com/
AMD clears another hurdle
MALTA - The Malta Town Board has set zoning in place to allow Advanced Micro Devices to build up to three nearly 1 million-square-foot computer chip plants in the Luther Forest Technology Campus.
Monday night's unanimous vote clears the way for the town Planning Board to review specific site plans for the park, if and when the expected $3.5 billion project is officially proposed.
Town and AMD officials worked for six months to write the specific zoning changes requested by the company.
A public hearing that began on Aug. 11 was concluded before the vote Monday night.
Three citizens spoke before the vote. Each was optimistic that the projected 1,400 jobs would be created by the AMD project.
But concerns about environmental hazards and increased traffic on town roads were also expressed.
Carol Henry, chairwoman of the Community Response Board, said her committee was concerned about construction trucks on local roads. and that once the plant is built, that emergency workers be properly trained and conduct drills to prepare for any problems that might arise.
Carol Marotta, a member of the Stillwater Planning Board, said she was worried about chemical emissions from the plant as well as increased traffic during and after construction.
"We should all think positively, but stay vigilant," she said.
Members of the Town Board said they are very excited about the prospect for the computer chip manufacturing industry and the opportunities it could bring.
Councilwoman Sue Nolen recalled more than six years of meetings and tours of the park.
"I'm happy today is the day [of the vote]," she said. "Our children will be able to get jobs here and I'm pleased to say yes [to the zoning]."
Councilwoman Tara Thomas also mentioned the jobs that would be created and that she has witnessed the loss of local jobs over the years.
"I've seen too many childhood friends move away to find work," she said.
Matt Jones, lead attorney for AMD, said all prospects for the project look good.
"We're in the position to advise AMD that all impediments have been resolved," he said.
Steve Groseclose of AMD said the zoning approval, "gives the foundation for us to move forward to build this facility. This will have an impact on Malta for generations to come."
In addition to the potential for jobs on the technology campus, local leaders have said thousands of other jobs will come to the area as support businesses.
On Wednesday, AMD Executive Chairman Hector Ruiz is scheduled to make his first visit to the Luther Forest Technology Campus.
The visit is in part to thank local officials for their work reviewing plans for the factory, as well as for Ruiz to see first-hand the progress that has been made in preparing the park.
The internal road system within the 1,350-acre campus in Malta and Stillwater is currently under construction, as is a Saratoga County water system that will supply the proposed plant with manufacturing water from the Hudson River.
From : http://www.dailygazette.com/
Friday, August 22, 2008
AMD Supports Universal Graphics Module Standard
Kontron, an embedded computer technology company, announced that AMD will support the Universal Graphics Module standard (UGM). As the provider of the ATI computer graphics processing technologies, AMD's support for the UGM standard will accelerate its rapid and widespread acceptance.
The UGM standard provides off-the-shelf embedded graphics on an industry-standard modular platform with multiple display configurations to guarantee customers the shortest time-to-market.
"With its long-life ATI product portfolio, AMD serves the particular needs of the embedded market. AMD's support of the UGM Consortium will thus accelerate the adoption of AMD's ATI advanced graphics technologies in the embedded market," said Aurelius Wosylus, Sales Manager Europe of AMD.
"With this declaration of support from AMD's Embedded Display Group that is responsible for delivering the high-end ATI product portfolio for the embedded markets, we have won the support of an industry leader in graphics processing technology in the UGM Consortium, underlining the importance of the UGM standard for the embedded marketplace," said Dirk Finstel, Vice President Global Research and Engineering at Kontron.
"The open standard strategy with multiple supporting vendors ensures that UGM is becoming as well accepted as Kontron's ETX and COM Express products. We welcome interest from other parties who would like to join the group of vendors supporting UGM," added Finstel.
The UGM open standard has been created for scalable, high-end PEG graphics with long-term availability. It represents the right standard made available at the right time to fit the requirements of many new applications in the field of embedded computing. The latest high resolution flat panels and operating systems as well as the latest CPUs and GPUs are now able to bring advanced graphics-driven technologies into embedded designs.
Kontron said the adoption of the UGM standard will change OEM solutions for many embedded industries, including medical equipment, casino gaming and arcade markets, vision control technologies for security and industry markets, and simulation technologies.
UGM offers quick and easy implementation of advanced graphics functions in custom designs for all these applications, including all the necessary drivers. The first Universal Graphics Module, the Kontron UGM-M72, uses the ATI M72 chip, which is based on AMD's flagship GPU ATI R600.
From : http://www.itnewsonline.com/
The UGM standard provides off-the-shelf embedded graphics on an industry-standard modular platform with multiple display configurations to guarantee customers the shortest time-to-market.
"With its long-life ATI product portfolio, AMD serves the particular needs of the embedded market. AMD's support of the UGM Consortium will thus accelerate the adoption of AMD's ATI advanced graphics technologies in the embedded market," said Aurelius Wosylus, Sales Manager Europe of AMD.
"With this declaration of support from AMD's Embedded Display Group that is responsible for delivering the high-end ATI product portfolio for the embedded markets, we have won the support of an industry leader in graphics processing technology in the UGM Consortium, underlining the importance of the UGM standard for the embedded marketplace," said Dirk Finstel, Vice President Global Research and Engineering at Kontron.
"The open standard strategy with multiple supporting vendors ensures that UGM is becoming as well accepted as Kontron's ETX and COM Express products. We welcome interest from other parties who would like to join the group of vendors supporting UGM," added Finstel.
The UGM open standard has been created for scalable, high-end PEG graphics with long-term availability. It represents the right standard made available at the right time to fit the requirements of many new applications in the field of embedded computing. The latest high resolution flat panels and operating systems as well as the latest CPUs and GPUs are now able to bring advanced graphics-driven technologies into embedded designs.
Kontron said the adoption of the UGM standard will change OEM solutions for many embedded industries, including medical equipment, casino gaming and arcade markets, vision control technologies for security and industry markets, and simulation technologies.
UGM offers quick and easy implementation of advanced graphics functions in custom designs for all these applications, including all the necessary drivers. The first Universal Graphics Module, the Kontron UGM-M72, uses the ATI M72 chip, which is based on AMD's flagship GPU ATI R600.
From : http://www.itnewsonline.com/
AMD Selling Some Chips, Finally, But Running On Fumes
From : http://www.clusterstock.com/
AMD shareholders have had a rough time, so they'll be pleased to hear that FBR analyst Craig Berger thinks the company's products are finally "gaining traction." Alas, Berger also thinks the company will run out of cash in six months.
AMD shareholders have had a rough time, so they'll be pleased to hear that FBR analyst Craig Berger thinks the company's products are finally "gaining traction." Alas, Berger also thinks the company will run out of cash in six months.
Berger says that his channel checks indicate that AMD is doing better than expected on ASP, gross margin, and growth. Berger also says that AMD is gaining share in graphics chips with nVidia:
Recent checks into PC builds suggest 3Q shipments are tracking towards normal seasonal growth. For AMD, our contacts say the firm is seeing increasing yields and shipments on triple-and quad-core products, driving higher ASPs, gross margins, and better-than-aggregate market growth. AMD is clearly gaining market share in graphics chips from nVidia, a known among investors in our opinion, though we believe the magnitude of share gains may be better than generally understood. Raising our 3Q estimates slightly, increasing our 3Q revenue estimate from $1.5 billion to $1.55 billion and our EPS estimate from ($0.41) to ($0.36).
But as with all things AMD these days, the other shoe is about to drop. Unless AMD gets moving very quickly on its nebulous reorganization scheme, "Asset-Lite," Berger says that the company will be out of money in April of 2009:
Stepping back from the very near term, getting its 'Asset-Lite' deal done is of paramount importance in order to avoid raising additional capital. We think the economics and licensing issues underlying an 'Asset-Lite' deal are challenging hurdles for any counter-party to overcome, and AMD may not get this deal done in a timely fashion. Without the deal, AMD could be facing another cash crunch as it has taken on $5BN of debt and burned through a lot of cash. Management says it needs to raise capital when gross cash falls to $800 million, which we think could happen in April 2009 without an 'Asset-Lite' deal.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Intel Denies Quad-Core Price Cuts Aimed At AMD
slashed prices for older 65nm processors by as much as 50 percent Monday, but the moves have nothing to do with rival Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD)' new quad-core and triple-core parts and everything to do with the chip giant's ramp of its 45nm line of products, Intel's Todd Garrigues said Tuesday.
But Intel, by slashing in half the prices for Intel's Core 2 Quad 6700 desktop processors and Quad-Core Xeon 3230 server chips from $566 to $266 for 1,000-unit trays, has tongues wagging about the direct implications for struggling AMD.
"If this isn't the final nail in the coffin, it's the tapping of the shovel on AMD's grave," said system builder John Kistler, owner of St. Louis-based J&B Technologies.
"By the third quarter, they're going to be getting everybody to move off the Core 2 Duo. So if you want that, they're going to say, 'It's for mobile. For desktop, we're moving you to quad.' It's Intel's goal to just absolutely put the pedal to the metal and just floor it."
Garrigues, however, downplayed any consideration of the competition in the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip giant's pricing moves.
"The first thing in my mind is that this is about the 45nm process rolling out. We're really ramping across the whole lineup with 45nm parts," said Garrigues, Intel's North American channel manager for products.
A number of Monday's price cuts of 20 percent or less do seem to simply reflect Intel's 'laddering' of new products to fill price points vacated by older devices, as Kistler put it.
"I'll buy to some extent that [Intel is] trying to push all their 65nm product out of the channel and ramp 45nm. With their tick-tock strategy they're on overdrive. They're never going to slow down again," he said.
An AMD spokesperson called the bulk of Intel's price cuts part of the natural product cycle for both chip makers. But she characterized the more dramatic price drops as directly related to AMD's ramping of its quad-core Phenom and Opteron lines, as well as its unique triple-core Phenom desktop processors. Besides cutting the prices of the Core 2 Q6700 and Xeon 3230 chips in half, Intel slashed prices on its Core 2 Duo E6850 from $266 to $133, or 31 percent, and its Dual-Core Xeon 3085 from $266 to $188, or 29 percent.
Garrigues, for his part, insisted that even the biggest price cuts were nothing more than "a reaction to the price that exists on 45nm."
Form : http://www.crn.com/
AMD quad-core and Parallels Server Beta3
AMD is certainly doing their part to help push virtualization technology. The company just recently released to market their quad-core AMD Opteron processors which give machines an added boost in CPU power. And Parallels is pushing forward with their long awaited Parallels Server product which has now reached Beta 3 stage. They've enhanced stability and performance, and also added a few new features.
Form : www.InfoWorld.com
Technorati Tags: AMD, Quad-Core
Form : www.InfoWorld.com
Technorati Tags: AMD, Quad-Core
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Intel 1Q sales, sunny guidance surprise Wall Street
Investors knew Intel Corp.'s profits would fall sharply in the first quarter because memory-chip prices had slid. What surprised Wall Street was how well the chip maker's core business in microprocessors held up.
Intel's shares jumped more than 8 percent Tuesday after the technology bellwether reported first-quarter profits that matched analysts' subdued expectations, along with sales that were slightly better than estimates and topped the company's first-quarter record.
A sunny forecast that kept profit-margin predictions for 2008 intact also helped boost the stock by signaling that the Santa Clara-based company expects to protect its profits despite falling memory-chip prices and fears of a slowdown in technology spending.
"The guidance was encouraging — it tells me that Europe and North America haven't fallen into the ocean," said David Wu, semiconductor analyst with Global Crown Capital. "Those markets appear pretty good for Intel. And what's good for Intel is good for PCs."
Intel shares eventually settled 22 cents below the closing stock price when someone sold 145,840 shares at $20.69 in the last trade of the after-hours session. Wu attributed the dip to the light volume in extended trading and profit-taking from the after-hours jump.
Analysts lowered their profit estimates for Intel last month after it warned that plunging prices for NAND flash, a type of memory chip widely used in consumer electronics, hit the company harder than expected. Intel had only recently entered that market.
Tuesday's report reassured investors worried that global economic jitters had harmed Intel's microprocessor business, which accounts for the bulk of its sales.
Intel is the world's No. 1 maker of microprocessors, which act as the brains of personal computers and servers. Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which has been dragging under the weight of heavy acquisition costs and fierce competition, is No. 2.
Intel's net profit for the three months ended March 29 was $1.44 billion, or 25 cents per share. That's 12 percent lower than a year earlier, when Intel earned $1.64 billion, or 28 cents per share. But it was in line with the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
Intel's sales of $9.67 billion — a 9 percent improvement over last year — came in slightly higher than Wall Street's estimate of $9.63 billion.
Intel's chief financial officer, Stacy Smith, said the results reflect the company's ability to overcome slumping prices in some segments of the semiconductor market with a new chip-making process that lowers the manufacturing costs for each chip.
"What we're seeing is the strength of the core business is offsetting that weakness," he said in an interview.
Intel began making NAND flash in 2006 under a joint venture with Micron Technology Inc., a move that some analysts now say was ill-timed considering the price plunge for those chips.
Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini said the joint venture is rethinking how much factory space it wants to devote to making NAND flash and has delayed construction on its new factory in Singapore for the memory chips as a result.
He added that economic turbulence didn't appear to have harmed Intel in its major markets during the latest quarter.
Microprocessor prices were flat in the first quarter, and unit sales declined from the fourth quarter, but Smith said those results were in line with seasonal trends in the semiconductor industry.
The company forecast second-quarter sales between $9 billion and $9.6 billion, in line with analyst expectations.
Intel's gross profit margin — a key measure of its ability to control the cost of making its chips — is expected to be 56 percent, plus or minus a couple percentage points, higher than its gross profit margin of 53.8 percent in the first quarter.
For the year, Intel expects a gross margin of around 57 percent, same as its previous forecast.
Intel and AMD, which is to report first-quarter results Thursday, both have been hurt by their intensifying competition with each other.
Sunnyvale-based AMD warned last week that sales across all its business units were lower than expected and it plans to cut 10 percent of its global work force, or about 1,600 workers. Analysts expect AMD to report a loss of 51 cents per share on $1.51 billion in sales.
Intel finished cutting about 10,500 workers, or 10 percent of its work force, last year in a move to shore up profits amid fierce competition with AMD.
Intel shares rose as high as $22.63 in after-hours trading, a gain of $1.72 from their closing price Tuesday of $20.91.
http://ap.google.com/
Intel's shares jumped more than 8 percent Tuesday after the technology bellwether reported first-quarter profits that matched analysts' subdued expectations, along with sales that were slightly better than estimates and topped the company's first-quarter record.
A sunny forecast that kept profit-margin predictions for 2008 intact also helped boost the stock by signaling that the Santa Clara-based company expects to protect its profits despite falling memory-chip prices and fears of a slowdown in technology spending.
"The guidance was encouraging — it tells me that Europe and North America haven't fallen into the ocean," said David Wu, semiconductor analyst with Global Crown Capital. "Those markets appear pretty good for Intel. And what's good for Intel is good for PCs."
Intel shares eventually settled 22 cents below the closing stock price when someone sold 145,840 shares at $20.69 in the last trade of the after-hours session. Wu attributed the dip to the light volume in extended trading and profit-taking from the after-hours jump.
Analysts lowered their profit estimates for Intel last month after it warned that plunging prices for NAND flash, a type of memory chip widely used in consumer electronics, hit the company harder than expected. Intel had only recently entered that market.
Tuesday's report reassured investors worried that global economic jitters had harmed Intel's microprocessor business, which accounts for the bulk of its sales.
Intel is the world's No. 1 maker of microprocessors, which act as the brains of personal computers and servers. Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which has been dragging under the weight of heavy acquisition costs and fierce competition, is No. 2.
Intel's net profit for the three months ended March 29 was $1.44 billion, or 25 cents per share. That's 12 percent lower than a year earlier, when Intel earned $1.64 billion, or 28 cents per share. But it was in line with the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
Intel's sales of $9.67 billion — a 9 percent improvement over last year — came in slightly higher than Wall Street's estimate of $9.63 billion.
Intel's chief financial officer, Stacy Smith, said the results reflect the company's ability to overcome slumping prices in some segments of the semiconductor market with a new chip-making process that lowers the manufacturing costs for each chip.
"What we're seeing is the strength of the core business is offsetting that weakness," he said in an interview.
Intel began making NAND flash in 2006 under a joint venture with Micron Technology Inc., a move that some analysts now say was ill-timed considering the price plunge for those chips.
Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini said the joint venture is rethinking how much factory space it wants to devote to making NAND flash and has delayed construction on its new factory in Singapore for the memory chips as a result.
He added that economic turbulence didn't appear to have harmed Intel in its major markets during the latest quarter.
Microprocessor prices were flat in the first quarter, and unit sales declined from the fourth quarter, but Smith said those results were in line with seasonal trends in the semiconductor industry.
The company forecast second-quarter sales between $9 billion and $9.6 billion, in line with analyst expectations.
Intel's gross profit margin — a key measure of its ability to control the cost of making its chips — is expected to be 56 percent, plus or minus a couple percentage points, higher than its gross profit margin of 53.8 percent in the first quarter.
For the year, Intel expects a gross margin of around 57 percent, same as its previous forecast.
Intel and AMD, which is to report first-quarter results Thursday, both have been hurt by their intensifying competition with each other.
Sunnyvale-based AMD warned last week that sales across all its business units were lower than expected and it plans to cut 10 percent of its global work force, or about 1,600 workers. Analysts expect AMD to report a loss of 51 cents per share on $1.51 billion in sales.
Intel finished cutting about 10,500 workers, or 10 percent of its work force, last year in a move to shore up profits amid fierce competition with AMD.
Intel shares rose as high as $22.63 in after-hours trading, a gain of $1.72 from their closing price Tuesday of $20.91.
http://ap.google.com/
Server makers move quickly to get AMD's quad-core chip in new systems
April 16, 2008 (Computerworld) Server makers have been moving to add Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s quad-core chip to their product lines, despite what amounts to a six-month delay by AMD in getting the processor out the door.
Indeed, if AMD hadn't been hit with problems in the new chip, code-named Barcelona, it would seem as if nothing had changed for the company; server makers have been making product announcements based on the new chip despite the delay. AMD said this month that Barcelona is now ready to ship in volume, and the announcement has been quickly met with commitments from vendors to release new systems using the chip.
On Tuesday, Dell Inc. said it is adding five Opteron-based quad-core chips to its PowerEdge line, including blade servers. Hewlett-Packard Co. had previously announced systems with this chip.
And, according to John Fruehe, manager of worldwide market development for AMD's server/workstation products, other vendor announcements are expected.
But the past six months have been rough on AMD since a bug in the L3 cache used by Barcelona turned up last year. As a result, AMD's value has taken a hit on Wall Street, the company has announced layoffs, and most recently, it lost Phil Hester, its senior vice president and chief technology officer.
AMD will report its quarterly earnings after the close of markets on Thursday, although its stock price was up more than 5% by the late afternoon Wednesday to about $6 -- less than half of what it was when it announced the quad-core last September. AMD's price may be getting help from Intel Corp., which said its first-quarter revenue increased by more than 9% to $9.7 billion.
Regarding the overall economic climate in the U.S., Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini told analysts on a conference call this week that 75% of Intel's revenue is not in the U.S. "So we don't see this really impacting our business at this time and haven't seen it so far in the last couple of quarters," according to a transcript on the conference call on Seeking Alpha.
"I think AMD had six very rough months," said Charles King, an analyst at Pund-IT Inc. in Hayward, Calif. But "once a processor gets into a data center or business client, it takes a really massive screw-up for a customer to abandon a client," he said. The Barcelona delay, King added, has not been "horrendously difficult to deal with."
Among the Dell platforms with the AMD chip are PowerEdge SC1435 and 2970 rack servers and the M605 blade server -- all are two-socket systems. Dell claimed that those servers can produce 79% more performance compared with those based on dual-core processors.
http://www.computerworld.com/
Indeed, if AMD hadn't been hit with problems in the new chip, code-named Barcelona, it would seem as if nothing had changed for the company; server makers have been making product announcements based on the new chip despite the delay. AMD said this month that Barcelona is now ready to ship in volume, and the announcement has been quickly met with commitments from vendors to release new systems using the chip.
On Tuesday, Dell Inc. said it is adding five Opteron-based quad-core chips to its PowerEdge line, including blade servers. Hewlett-Packard Co. had previously announced systems with this chip.
And, according to John Fruehe, manager of worldwide market development for AMD's server/workstation products, other vendor announcements are expected.
But the past six months have been rough on AMD since a bug in the L3 cache used by Barcelona turned up last year. As a result, AMD's value has taken a hit on Wall Street, the company has announced layoffs, and most recently, it lost Phil Hester, its senior vice president and chief technology officer.
AMD will report its quarterly earnings after the close of markets on Thursday, although its stock price was up more than 5% by the late afternoon Wednesday to about $6 -- less than half of what it was when it announced the quad-core last September. AMD's price may be getting help from Intel Corp., which said its first-quarter revenue increased by more than 9% to $9.7 billion.
Regarding the overall economic climate in the U.S., Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini told analysts on a conference call this week that 75% of Intel's revenue is not in the U.S. "So we don't see this really impacting our business at this time and haven't seen it so far in the last couple of quarters," according to a transcript on the conference call on Seeking Alpha.
"I think AMD had six very rough months," said Charles King, an analyst at Pund-IT Inc. in Hayward, Calif. But "once a processor gets into a data center or business client, it takes a really massive screw-up for a customer to abandon a client," he said. The Barcelona delay, King added, has not been "horrendously difficult to deal with."
Among the Dell platforms with the AMD chip are PowerEdge SC1435 and 2970 rack servers and the M605 blade server -- all are two-socket systems. Dell claimed that those servers can produce 79% more performance compared with those based on dual-core processors.
http://www.computerworld.com/
AMD's Quad-Core Opteron Available in Dell Servers
Five Dell servers based on Advanced Micro Devices' Quad-Core Opteron processors are available on the computer company's Web site, bringing the number of server models that use the chip to 13, AMD said.
The announcement is further evidence that AMD's troubled quad-core processor is back on track, following months of production delays and a bug discovered last year that further postponed the chip's release. Last week, AMD revealed it had begun shipping the processors, which had already found their way into systems available from Hewlett-Packard.
The five Dell server models based on the Quad-Core Opteron that are now available are the PowerEdge SC1435, 2970, M605, 6950, and T605. The servers are available in rack and tower models aimed at a range of corporate users, from small business to large corporations.
The availability of servers based on the Quad-Core Opteron is a boost for AMD, but the company still faces significant hurdles and recently announced plans to trim its workforce by 10 percent. At the same time, the company cut its revenue forecast for the first quarter.
http://www.pcworld.com/
Technorati Tags: AMD, Quad-Core, Dell, Server
The announcement is further evidence that AMD's troubled quad-core processor is back on track, following months of production delays and a bug discovered last year that further postponed the chip's release. Last week, AMD revealed it had begun shipping the processors, which had already found their way into systems available from Hewlett-Packard.
The five Dell server models based on the Quad-Core Opteron that are now available are the PowerEdge SC1435, 2970, M605, 6950, and T605. The servers are available in rack and tower models aimed at a range of corporate users, from small business to large corporations.
The availability of servers based on the Quad-Core Opteron is a boost for AMD, but the company still faces significant hurdles and recently announced plans to trim its workforce by 10 percent. At the same time, the company cut its revenue forecast for the first quarter.
http://www.pcworld.com/
Technorati Tags: AMD, Quad-Core, Dell, Server
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Intel to Answer AMD's Fusion?
Intel is reportedly preparing its own product to compete against AMD's "Fusion" processor, a combined CPU/GPU, for an early 2009 release, according to published reports.
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) has made no secret of plans to integrate graphics with the core CPU but has not gone into detail on layout or exactly when it will ship. The chips are reportedly planned for Q2 2009, which would put it ahead of AMD's planned launch of Fusion in the second half of 2009.
The processors are being developed under the code names "Havendale" (desktop processor) and "Auburndale" (mobile processor).
Intel declined to comment on "rumor and speculation."
According to reports, Intel will combine its forthcoming Nehalem processor with a next-generation graphics processor from its current G45 chip.
The G45 is a decent performer, with support for DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0 as well as HD decoding and HDMI (define), Displayport (define) and DVI (define) ports.
The exact architecture is not known. A Japanese news site, PC Watch, has plenty of architectural designs that show Havendale/Auburndale as a dual-core processor with integrated graphics and a 4MB cache for the two cores.
Havendale will be use a new desktop-socket design, LGA-1160, and Auburndale will use the new mPGA-989 mobile socket. The desktop chip will have a 75-watt power envelop, while the mobile part will be between 45 and 55 watts.
It's quite a change for Intel to react to something AMD still has in the labs. It was dismissing 64-bit x86 extensions back when AMD first introduced them, then belatedly came to market a few years later with 64-bit chips.
"Intel is never going to let AMD get too far ahead of them again," said Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research. "They learned a hard lesson. I think Paul Otellini is probably one of the most enlightened CEOs Intel has had for a while and he's just not going to let that happen again."
Peddie believes that Intel will take the same strategy it took with its first dual-core and quad-core chips, and put two parts on the same die before integrating it.
"The pros of this approach are that it allows you to test the concepts and get more yield by using proven parts, and it allows you to make more SKUs because you can mix and match more easily," he told InternetNews.com. "The cons are there is an inherently higher silicon cost, and there is a higher power consumption due to the interface logic between the CPU and GPU chips."
AMD, being the No. 2 contestant in the field, needs to take a bigger risk for the bigger reward, so it's merging of CPU and GPU is more ambitious, added Peddie.
The question then becomes, what good is it? Fred Zeiber, president of Pathfinder Research, wasn't exactly sure himself. "You do get some advances in I/O but it's not like it's the Holy Grail," he said.
"They [Intel and AMD] probably feel that there's a market there. What they see there, I'm not sure but you have to take into account changes in technology and Internet delivery. There may be markets coming down the road."Form : http://www.internetnews.com/
Thursday, March 6, 2008
AMD's Stephen DiFranco talks channel
he only thing to do after you've spoken to the main channel marketing guy for Europe is to go global.
So HEXUS.channel tracked down AMD's overall channel boss at CeBIT 2008 and asked him what his priorities are for AMD's channel strategy this year.
"Our biggest aim can be summed up by saying we want to synchronise the solution at the system builder," said DiFranco. "It's not easy enough to build an AMD system right now."
That might seem like a surprising admission, but it is typical of the mea culpa approach AMD has taken to improving its channel relationships after a rocky 2007.
"You should be able to get parts more easily," he continued. "The channel is very fragmented, but the point at which it all aggregates is at the system builder level." In other words, by focusing on making it as easy as possible for system builders to get hold of AMD kit and support, DiFranco hopes to remedy any supply and communication problems ocurring in other parts of the channel.
DiFranco indicated that he was aware that many smaller channel players are diversifying their activity to incorporate more SMB business.
"The desktop is still the backbone of the SMB market and the refresh cycle means that a lot of companies are upgrading around now," he said.
"But we're also trying to answer the question: 'why should an SMB ask for an AMD-based notebook. We've identified a need to communicate better with B2B resellers."
DiFranco also indicated that AMD is working on a dedicated B2B platform, but was unable to comment further on it for now. He did stress that AMD "needs to overcome 30 years of wintel", however.
Form : HEXUS.tv - London,UK
So HEXUS.channel tracked down AMD's overall channel boss at CeBIT 2008 and asked him what his priorities are for AMD's channel strategy this year.
"Our biggest aim can be summed up by saying we want to synchronise the solution at the system builder," said DiFranco. "It's not easy enough to build an AMD system right now."
That might seem like a surprising admission, but it is typical of the mea culpa approach AMD has taken to improving its channel relationships after a rocky 2007.
"You should be able to get parts more easily," he continued. "The channel is very fragmented, but the point at which it all aggregates is at the system builder level." In other words, by focusing on making it as easy as possible for system builders to get hold of AMD kit and support, DiFranco hopes to remedy any supply and communication problems ocurring in other parts of the channel.
DiFranco indicated that he was aware that many smaller channel players are diversifying their activity to incorporate more SMB business.
"The desktop is still the backbone of the SMB market and the refresh cycle means that a lot of companies are upgrading around now," he said.
"But we're also trying to answer the question: 'why should an SMB ask for an AMD-based notebook. We've identified a need to communicate better with B2B resellers."
DiFranco also indicated that AMD is working on a dedicated B2B platform, but was unable to comment further on it for now. He did stress that AMD "needs to overcome 30 years of wintel", however.
Form : HEXUS.tv - London,UK
Thursday, February 28, 2008
AMD and IBM successfully produce first EUV ‘full-field test chip
AMD and IBM have said they have successfully produced a working test chip utilizing “full-field” EUV lithography for the critical first layer - instead of ‘narrow field’ (R&D sample applications) - in the fabrication process across an entire 22mm x 33mm AMD 45nm node test chip.
“This important demonstration of EUV lithography’s potential to be used in semiconductor manufacturing in the coming years is encouraging to all of us in the industry that benefit from chip feature sizes shrinking over time,” said Dr. Bruno La Fontaine of AMD. “Although there is still a lot of work to be done before the industry can use EUV lithography in high volume production, AMD has shown it can be integrated successfully in a semiconductor fabrication flow to produce the first layer of metal interconnects across a full chip.”
The AMD test chip first went through processing at AMD’s Fab 36 in Dresden then shipped for imaging using the EUV Alpha tool from ASML at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) in Albany, New York.
The next step will be to apply EUV to all critical layers including metal interconnects to demonstrate that a complete working microprocessor can be fabricated using EUV lithography.
AMD produces first EUV test chip
AMD released a very interesting statement yesterday regarding their developments of newer CPU technologies. In conjunction with IBM, they have been working on Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) Lithography, a method of etching for the purpose of creating a circuit. The advantage EUV offers is that it is significantly more precise and uses a shorter wavelength, allowing denser circuits. AMD's announcement is that they have successfully produced a working chip using this technology, opening up new doors for them in terms of processor manufacturing.
Scaling processors down has faced brick walls at many points in history. EUV promises to allow significant further reduction of processor sizes, which will be critical as clock speeds continue to climb. The technology is still ways down the road however – with production goals aimed for as far out as 8 years from now. You can read the full press release at AMD's site.
http://www.techspot.com/news/29197-amd-produces-first-euv-test-chip.html
Scaling processors down has faced brick walls at many points in history. EUV promises to allow significant further reduction of processor sizes, which will be critical as clock speeds continue to climb. The technology is still ways down the road however – with production goals aimed for as far out as 8 years from now. You can read the full press release at AMD's site.
http://www.techspot.com/news/29197-amd-produces-first-euv-test-chip.html
AMD ATI Catalyst v8.3 Preview
Hothardware gives us a sneak peak at the new AMD ATI Catalyst v8.3 driver suite.
Quote from the preview: "About every year or so, the software team at ATI, which is now a part of AMD, produces a Catalyst driver suite that introduces a handful of major new features, above and beyond their regular monthly release. And at least so far, for 2008, the upcoming Catalyst v8.3 suite appears to be that major release. In addition to the typical batch of performance enhancements and bug fixes, the v8.3 suite is going to deliver official support for three and four GPU CrossFireX and Hybrid CrossFire configurations, plus some new anti-aliasing features, previously unavailable tweaks for video playback, and GPU LCD scaling, among some other things. "
http://www.i4u.com/article15172.html
Quote from the preview: "About every year or so, the software team at ATI, which is now a part of AMD, produces a Catalyst driver suite that introduces a handful of major new features, above and beyond their regular monthly release. And at least so far, for 2008, the upcoming Catalyst v8.3 suite appears to be that major release. In addition to the typical batch of performance enhancements and bug fixes, the v8.3 suite is going to deliver official support for three and four GPU CrossFireX and Hybrid CrossFire configurations, plus some new anti-aliasing features, previously unavailable tweaks for video playback, and GPU LCD scaling, among some other things. "
http://www.i4u.com/article15172.html
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
isoHunt Receives 2 Quad Cores from AMD
isoHunt is one of the largest BitTorrent sites on the net. Although it's not a tracker like The Pirate Bay, it receives a similar amount of traffic. isoHunt is an efficient indexing site, which has enabled it become on par with the popularity of The Pirate Bay.With the massive traffic load experienced by the Canadian based indexing site, it appears that AMD has found the perfect test site for their new Opteron 2352 quad core processors. To test out their new products, AMD gave isoHunt 2 of these powerhouse processors, reports the blog “Sunny Talks Tech”. The isoHunt administration appear thrilled so far.
"I'd like to thank the nice people at AMD for allowing us to have 2 pre-production engineering samples of their Opteron 2352 CPUs," a forum administrator said. "These CPUs have been installed in our primary database server (as of this afternoon) and we'll definitely be following up in the near future with our impressions of these particular CPUs. (Although I'll admit that we ran all of our web traffic for about 20 minutes earlier today on those CPUs without any issue, so they're certainly powerhouses)."
As recalled by P2P-Blog, the Opteron 2352 derives from the troublesome 2350 series, which experienced a nasty bug last September, causing a delay in production and mass marketing.
Gary Fung's isoHunt is currently being pursued with legal action by the MPAA. AMD's choice to endorse isoHunt is an intriguing one. The Operon 2352 is a monolith of CPU design. With 4 cores running at 2.1 GHz and 2 megabytes of level 2 cache, not only will isoHunt thank AMD, but the entire population of isoHunt will too.
http://www.slyck.com/story1654_isoHunt_Receives_2_Quad_Cores_from_AMD
Thursday, February 7, 2008
isoHunt Receives 2 Quad Cores from AMD
isoHunt is one of the largest BitTorrent sites on the net. Although it's not a tracker like The Pirate Bay, it receives a similar amount of traffic. isoHunt is an efficient indexing site, which has enabled it become on par with the popularity of The Pirate Bay.With the massive traffic load experienced by the Canadian based indexing site, it appears that AMD has found the perfect test site for their new Opteron 2352 quad core processors. To test out their new products, AMD gave isoHunt 2 of these powerhouse processors, reports the blog “Sunny Talks Tech”. The isoHunt administration appear thrilled so far.
"I'd like to thank the nice people at AMD for allowing us to have 2 pre-production engineering samples of their Opteron 2352 CPUs," a forum administrator said. "These CPUs have been installed in our primary database server (as of this afternoon) and we'll definitely be following up in the near future with our impressions of these particular CPUs. (Although I'll admit that we ran all of our web traffic for about 20 minutes earlier today on those CPUs without any issue, so they're certainly powerhouses)."
As recalled by P2P-Blog, the Opteron 2352 derives from the troublesome 2350 series, which experienced a nasty bug last September, causing a delay in production and mass marketing.
Gary Fung's isoHunt is currently being pursued with legal action by the MPAA. AMD's choice to endorse isoHunt is an intriguing one. The Operon 2352 is a monolith of CPU design. With 4 cores running at 2.1 GHz and 2 megabytes of level 2 cache, not only will isoHunt thank AMD, but the entire population of isoHunt will too.
http://www.slyck.com/story1654_isoHunt_Receives_2_Quad_Cores_from_AMD
Sunday, December 30, 2007
AMD Claims First “Swift” Fusion Processor Due in Second Half 2009.
Advanced Micro Devices was once again unsure when exactly it is capable of releasing its highly-anticipated code-named Fusion processor during its meeting with financial analysts on Thursday. Based on the current indications made by the world’s second largest x86 chipmaker, the products, which combine general purpose as well as graphics cores, will be delayed to the second half of 2009.
The concept chip that combines general purpose as well as graphics computing capabilities, which is usually named Fusion, is now called Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), according to a presentation of Mario Rivas, executive vice president of computing solutions group at AMD.
“I am happy to announce the birth of a new category, the Accelerated Processing Units. The ‘new AMD’ now has access to excellent IP on CPUs, excellent IP on graphics processing units and second to none chipsets. The integration of all these parts and our uniqueness – customer centric innovation – create the APU,” said Mr. Rivas.
The first APU, that is “on track to market in 2H 2009” is code-named Swift and features two or three general purpose x86 cores based on AMD’s new-generation micro-architecture (the same that is used in Phenom processors), graphics core based on “existing high-end discrete” design (possibly, ATI Radeon HD 3800), DDR3 memory controller as well as PCI Express bus controller. The chip will be made using 45nm process technology.
“The first APU platform is code-named Swift. It gives you the choice of technologies for high-confidence volume production ramp. We want to re-use as much [IP] as possible to accelerate our quality [qualification] and time to market. So, we have an AMD Stars CPU core, the graphics core that is based on the present high-end discrete GPU core and leverages the North Bridge that is presently found in Griffin, the CPU of the Puma platform. It will be our second 45nm generation product, so the maturity of the [production technology] will be proven. It is done on the current SOI design rules, which is the process that we know how to build on very well,” Mr. Rivas explained.
Initially the company indicated that Fusion processors “are expected in late 2008/early 2009”, and the company anticipated to use them within all of the chipmaker’s “priority computing categories”, including laptops, desktops, workstations and servers, as well as in “consumer electronics and solutions tailored for the unique needs of emerging markets”. A little later the company said that the first-generation of Fusion chips will be aimed at laptops and that production will start in early 2009. This time AMD claims that the actual chips will reach the market only in the second half of 2009, which may mean that the product will only be launched commercially in Q4 2009. Still, the company said that it is minimizing all the risks hopes to really deliver the product on time.
“By optimizing the choice of IP blocks we have less risks and faster time to market in the second half of 2009,” claimed , executive vice president of computing solutions group at AMD.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20071216231717_AMD_Claims_First_Swift_Fusion_Processor_Due_in_Second_Half_2009.html
The concept chip that combines general purpose as well as graphics computing capabilities, which is usually named Fusion, is now called Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), according to a presentation of Mario Rivas, executive vice president of computing solutions group at AMD.
“I am happy to announce the birth of a new category, the Accelerated Processing Units. The ‘new AMD’ now has access to excellent IP on CPUs, excellent IP on graphics processing units and second to none chipsets. The integration of all these parts and our uniqueness – customer centric innovation – create the APU,” said Mr. Rivas.
The first APU, that is “on track to market in 2H 2009” is code-named Swift and features two or three general purpose x86 cores based on AMD’s new-generation micro-architecture (the same that is used in Phenom processors), graphics core based on “existing high-end discrete” design (possibly, ATI Radeon HD 3800), DDR3 memory controller as well as PCI Express bus controller. The chip will be made using 45nm process technology.
“The first APU platform is code-named Swift. It gives you the choice of technologies for high-confidence volume production ramp. We want to re-use as much [IP] as possible to accelerate our quality [qualification] and time to market. So, we have an AMD Stars CPU core, the graphics core that is based on the present high-end discrete GPU core and leverages the North Bridge that is presently found in Griffin, the CPU of the Puma platform. It will be our second 45nm generation product, so the maturity of the [production technology] will be proven. It is done on the current SOI design rules, which is the process that we know how to build on very well,” Mr. Rivas explained.
Initially the company indicated that Fusion processors “are expected in late 2008/early 2009”, and the company anticipated to use them within all of the chipmaker’s “priority computing categories”, including laptops, desktops, workstations and servers, as well as in “consumer electronics and solutions tailored for the unique needs of emerging markets”. A little later the company said that the first-generation of Fusion chips will be aimed at laptops and that production will start in early 2009. This time AMD claims that the actual chips will reach the market only in the second half of 2009, which may mean that the product will only be launched commercially in Q4 2009. Still, the company said that it is minimizing all the risks hopes to really deliver the product on time.
“By optimizing the choice of IP blocks we have less risks and faster time to market in the second half of 2009,” claimed , executive vice president of computing solutions group at AMD.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20071216231717_AMD_Claims_First_Swift_Fusion_Processor_Due_in_Second_Half_2009.html
Advanced Micro Devices Faces Further Delays of Phenom Processors.
Advanced Micro Devices, the troubled maker of x86 central processing units (CPUs), is projected to face further delay of its highly-anticipated AMD Phenom microprocessors and will only be in position to supply them in Q2 2008. This setback is likely to have a negative financial impact on the company’s financial results in the first quarter of 2008.
After a Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB)-related erratum was discovered in AMD Phenom microprocessors and AMD had to impose a fix that reduced performance of the CPUs, Advanced Micro Devices had to announce a new B3 stepping of the chip with bug corrected without performance degradation. Unfortunately for AMD, the new chips will only become available for its customers sometime in Q2 2008, not in Q1 2008, as expected, according to AMD’s production schedule published by HKEPC web-site.
Quad-core AMD Phenom 9900, 9700, 9650, 9550, 9150e and 9100e chips are scheduled to be commercially available in the second quarter, 2008, whereas development samples of the chips are generally projected to be available for AMD’s customers in the first quarter of the year. Triple-core AMD Phenom 8700, 8650 and 8450 chips are also projected to be available in Q2 2008; still, AMD Phenom 8600 and 8400 – which are based on the B2 stepping with TLB errata – will be released commercially in March, 2008.
Despite of stepping change, the new quad-core microprocessors by AMD will only run at clock-speeds 2.60GHz and below, whereas triple-core chips will only operate at 2.40GHz and lower.
The delay of the advanced AMD Phenom microprocessors to Q2 2008 will slowdown AMD’s revenue growth in the first quarter, as currently available AMD Athlon 64 X2 processors are not competitive against higher-end Intel Core 2 chips and the world’s second largest x86 processor maker will have to concentrate on selling primarily lower-end CPUs that have low profit margins.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20071226214456_Advanced_Micro_Devices_Faces_Further_Delays_of_Phenom_Processors.html
After a Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB)-related erratum was discovered in AMD Phenom microprocessors and AMD had to impose a fix that reduced performance of the CPUs, Advanced Micro Devices had to announce a new B3 stepping of the chip with bug corrected without performance degradation. Unfortunately for AMD, the new chips will only become available for its customers sometime in Q2 2008, not in Q1 2008, as expected, according to AMD’s production schedule published by HKEPC web-site.
Quad-core AMD Phenom 9900, 9700, 9650, 9550, 9150e and 9100e chips are scheduled to be commercially available in the second quarter, 2008, whereas development samples of the chips are generally projected to be available for AMD’s customers in the first quarter of the year. Triple-core AMD Phenom 8700, 8650 and 8450 chips are also projected to be available in Q2 2008; still, AMD Phenom 8600 and 8400 – which are based on the B2 stepping with TLB errata – will be released commercially in March, 2008.
Despite of stepping change, the new quad-core microprocessors by AMD will only run at clock-speeds 2.60GHz and below, whereas triple-core chips will only operate at 2.40GHz and lower.
The delay of the advanced AMD Phenom microprocessors to Q2 2008 will slowdown AMD’s revenue growth in the first quarter, as currently available AMD Athlon 64 X2 processors are not competitive against higher-end Intel Core 2 chips and the world’s second largest x86 processor maker will have to concentrate on selling primarily lower-end CPUs that have low profit margins.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20071226214456_Advanced_Micro_Devices_Faces_Further_Delays_of_Phenom_Processors.html
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