ARTICLE--COMMENTS?
How big a threat?
Tuesday October 14 8:41 PM EDT
AMD CEO outlines new products to regain share
SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 14 (Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices Inc Chairman Jerry Sanders
outlined AMD's key future products and said AMD hopes to achieve a 30 percent share of the
microprocessor market by 2001.
AMD, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is the leading developer of clones of Intel processors. Last week,
in its third quarter earnings, it reported a larger than expected loss because of continued
manufacturing problems with its new faster version of its K6 processor.
Sanders said that if the company meets its manufacturing goals of switching most of its
manufacturing to a more advanced process technology by the middle of 1998, the company should
dramatically increase its capacity to make more chips.
''With our heavy investments in process technology and production capacity, I believe we can
produce enough units to achieve a 30 percent unit market share by 2001,'' Sanders told the
Microprocessor Forum, a semicondcutor industry conference.
The chief executive officer said that AMD's shares of the Intel-compatible processor market last
peaked in 1992 at 30 percent, when the 386 processor was dominant. Since then, its share has
fallen to about 10 percent in 1997, in terms of unit shipments.
Sanders highlighted AMD's planned enhancements to its current K6 processors and its generation
microprocessor, called the K7, with a few barbs thrown at its main rival Intel Corp.
''For all of us, the benefits of having an alternative are manifestly evident, competition is good,''
Sanders said, adding that standards in the industry are key to driving costs down. ''In the absence
of open standards and competition, consumers will pay a monopolists tax. AMD is here to cut your
taxes.''
Sanders highlighted the lower cost parts that AMD provides, which average about 25 percent less
expensive than Intel's.
''It is clear that competition from AMD has driven Intel to offer new products and product
variations that were not in its original plans, or to offer them earlier than planned.''
Sanders also said Intel's dominance is so ''pervasive'' that it was hardly a surprise when Intel
disclosed that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating its business practices.
AMD will introduce a new K6 in the first half of 1998, called the AMD-K6 3D MMX, with initial
clock speeds of 300 megahertz and moving to 350 megahertz. Sanders said that the processor will
deliver more powerful three-dimensional graphics and multimedia.
This new chip, code-named ''Chompers,'' is being shipped to some customers for sampling and
testing and will be demonstrated at the Comdex computer trade show next month.
AMD also said that it plans to continue to support and enhance the so-called Socket 7 architecture.
Socket 7 is a system board interface between the main processor and the main memory. Intel has
diverted from this standard with its Pentium II processor, which has a new board design in the form
of a cartridge that plugs into the motherboard, called Slot One.
Sanders said that AMD will improve the Socket 7 by increasing its speeds to 100 megahertz, up
from 66 megahertz right now. This enhancement, called the Super7, will be available in the first half
of 1998.
In the second half of 1998, AMD will introduce another enhanced K6 chip, the AMD-K6+ (Plus)
3D processor, with clock speeds of 400 megahertz.
AMD is also working on a next-generation processor, called the K7, which Sanders said will be
described at next year's Micrprocessor Forum. Sanders said the K7 will be sampled to customers
in 1998 and demonstrated at Comdex in November, 1998. Volume production will follow in 1999. |
