"AMD is recording record units shipped in the face of one of the largest barricades erected in recent US history"
But it is very difficult to buy a system at retail in the US. Yep, you can get a system via an SD shop. Yep, you can order the parts and build your own. Yep, you can order one from Compaq or Micron online, but not HP. What you cannot do is march into any of the retailers in the US and take an XP-based system home. Every once in a while one will turn up, but usually the shelves are lined with P4 systems. I gather it is the same in Europe, at least outside of German supermarkets, and I know it is the same in The Great Walk In Ice Box you live in. Whatever the reasons might be, and we can speculate endlessly on them, these are the facts. On the other hand, AMD does seem to be moving processors somewhere in large amounts and at decent prices, the prices seem to be more or less stable on PriceWatch and similar places. On yet another hand (being hopelessly ambidextrous), AMD seems to be doing well in laptops and at least getting good PR on dual servers and workstations (is BMW and Lucas building their own? Notice that these PR releases never mention the manufacturer).
"Once "the unrivaled performance levels" of the XP take root in the US"
They have to be available before this can happen.
"AMD better have additional production facility ready to go as 30% market share will happen in a heartbeat... "
With the shift to 0.13 micron and the use of UMC for the Durons, 30% won't be much problem. With the Mother of All Price Wars coming in 2002, it will be interesting to see if Intel and AMD can actually turn a profit. I think that is where the problem will lie... |
