Re: I do not agree with that strategy at all from a manufacturing stand point...
My guess is that you are close to echoing a conversation between Atiq Raz and Jerry Sanders prior to Raz's resignation. And you are presenting Raz's side - wait a minute, is Process Boy a screen name for Atiq Raz? :-)
But looking at the rest of your message, it may be that for a company that faces such an overwhelming competitor, the current strategy is the only one that stands a chance of success. Intel has demonstrated a real determination to knock AMD out of business, as shown when it slashed celeron prices to push the k6x processors out of the market. So just trying to develop a competitive product at a safe, moderate pace may not be enough for AMD.
Motorola has been shipping volume copper SRAM since February using a process that supposedly has been made available to AMD. How similar is the fabrication of SRAM to that of a CPU? AMD seems to think that the Motorola process will serve them - is this a reasonable assumption? Or do CPUs and SRAM require substantially different FAB processes?
My guess is that no one thought the Athlon was going to turn out as well as it did, and that it looked like aluminum .18 could never be enough to compete with Intel. As it has turned out, it probably is (at least temporarily) but as you pointed out, by mid 2000, Intel will have its next generation out. If, by then, AMD has volume copper at .18, that may be enough to really get ahead of Intel for awhile, without it, there isn't much of a chance.
So, IMHO, AMD's present strategy may not be the best one, but it may the only one.
Thanks for your comments.
Dan |
