AMD to feel the Intel squeeze

Posted on 5 Aug 2003 at 15:29

Research from In-Stat/MDR recommends that if AMD is to stay the course, competing against Intel in the x86 market, it must move to more efficient and advanced production processes fast and get its Opteron chip into machines from major server vendors.

The report, Intel x86 Competitors, outlines the prospects of AMD, VIA and Transmeta in a market where Intel is expanding across all niches and driving forward performance.

'It is widely recognized that Intel makes a very formidable competitor, and conventional wisdom would dictate that it is foolhardy of these companies to challenge the behemoth's grasp on this market,' says Kevin Krewell of In-Stat/MDR. 'But like moths to the flame, each is drawn by the promise of riches selling x86 processors.'

Specifically, it recommends AMD move quickly to 90nm manufacturing processes and adopt the Paris die on the Athlon64 line to increase efficiency and lower costs.

It suggests that VIA forge its own way with chipset designs, independent of Intel. The chip giant is specifying more and more features with every new product - consider Centrino which includes CPU, chipset and WLAN components - leaving fewer areas for the likes of VIA to profit from. The reports notes, however, that VIA already possesses a good grounding in this area.

The outlook for Transmeta is bleaker. Intel has already gained much ground over the low-power, low-temperature Crusoe chips with Centrino and now faces an uphill task to establish its new TM8000 chips. 'The low volumes of Transmeta designs, the time necessary to win sockets for the TM8000, and the pressure on ASP to win back sockets are not promising strategies to improve Transmeta's top line revenue,' it reads.