Actually, I was also in and out of AMD until I ran into the same problem with AMD credibility. What I responded to then, and am still responding to now, was not the hype, advertizing and brand loyalty. I was responding to the merit of the product, the creativety and quality of the product. Intel was doing the innovation, Intel was producing the quality product based on their own hard work. AMD was just ripping it off and then hiding behind a questionable legal interpretation of a cross-licensing agreement. My thinking was that if AMD had to rely on fighting in court to defend its right to copy someone else's hard work, they had little going for them. I then started selling AMD, and if I remember correctly even bought puts.
I was no fan of CEO. I am not sure I would be now. But the question I pose at every moment in investing is what is a fair and reasonable appraisal of the current reality. I do not own any AMD, and I am not that familiar with the architectural features of the K6. From the little I do know, it is advertized to have most of the RISC type features of the PPRO, a 64K L1 cache, and 'advertized' speed equivalence to the PPro in a socket seven MB. I guess we will all have to await the independent benchmarks, but if it is true, and if this is not simply a stolen product but a creatively developed product from within AMD, then maybe we have a different company and one worth investing in.
How will INTC maintain its margins, profits and stock price with persistent corporations like CYrix and AMD who are bent upon competing in the x86 market and have proven they have the staying power to make a reasonable run at this goal, and who are pricing their speed equivalent chips at 1/3-1/2 the cost of Intel's. 'Intel Inside' gives most of us the warm fuzzies. Intel has created an illusion that we are safe in the computing world because we own an Intel inside. But it is mostly illusion. That kind of monopoly advertizing tactic did not last for RCA color TV's, it did not last for Tampax, any more than it will last for Intel. And by this comments I don't for a minute want to be construed to denigrate the significant, incredible and valuable products INTC does produce for us all. |
