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Technology Stocks : Advanced Micro Devices - Moderated (AMD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Goutam who wrote (5994)	8/22/2000 3:30:55 AM
From: chic_hearne	Respond to of 275872

Goutama, This is a good point, **IF** it does lead to Sony having Tbird and Duron based systems. chic

To: Goutam who wrote (5994)	8/22/2000 3:34:28 AM
From: Pravin Kamdar	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 275872

Goutama, IMHO, it can lead to TB & Duron based desktops from Sony. Good point. And, I'm sure it will. Pravin.

To: Goutam who wrote (5994)	8/22/2000 10:24:56 AM
From: milo_morai	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 275872

<font color=darkgreen>ON24 Jerry Sanders Interview ON24 served up a meaty interview with AMD CEO W. J. Sanders III this week. Mr. Sanders's mantra appeared to be "volume, volume, volume" as the Silicon Valley veteran claimed that while "hundreds of thousands" of 1 GHz AMD Athlon processors have already shipped, Intel's 1 GHz PIII "paper launch" meant that these processors were still in short supply and had shipped far fewer as a result. Mr. Sanders stressed several times that AMD brings innovation and competition to the processor space and will continue to push its primary rival, Intel. With the Athlon nearing its first birthday, AMD continues to be ahead of schedule with its recent 1.1 GHz Athlon launch which will be supported by numerous OEM "top tier players" later this month. AMD continues to "provide processors to every major PC manufacturer in the world save one," Mr. Sanders continued. Although not mentioning a date, the larger than life CEO reiterated many times that a 1.2 GHz Athlon will be available very soon. The outlook for the processor industry is very bright for the rest of the year and expect the industry to see "over 45 million processors shipped in the fourth quarter" Mr. Sanders estimated. While many are concerned about the rise of the Internet Appliance, Mr. Sanders believes that the "PC will continue to be the hub of the digital universe." Mobile PCs will grow faster than desktop PCs, but he is not a big fan of Internet appliances long term; instead Mr. Sanders believes cell phones will morph into Internet access devices with capabilities for video and audio. While Mr. Sanders expects AMD to be a "major player" in the server space by end of next year, he also sees the possibility of growth from cellular telephones and PDAs through flash devices and embedded solutions built around Athlons. Together with its partner Fujitsu, AMD leads world in flash memory production with a 30% market share vs. 25% for the number two player, Intel. Flash memory is the fastest growing major segment of the semiconductor industry, Mr. Sander claimed. Demand is extremely strong and AMD is currently production limited, but is ramping rapidly and should have a new fab coming online able to contribute to revenues in the second half of next year. Listening to the surprisingly candid interview, one thing became clear: although Mr. Sanders has respect for AMD's chief microprocessor rival, Intel, the animated Sanders also is ready to play hardball with a company he does not seem to like very much. "The only way that one can compete long term with Intel, the monopolist, you have to have a major presence where the volume is. Volume is our vaccine against the Intel venom that stops customers from adopting alternatives," Mr. Sanders underscored. The chip industry legend (for good or bad, Mr. Sanders is undeniably a legend in the semiconductor business) labeled Intel a monopoly several times in the interview, enough to warrant a direct question as to whether AMD will ask the Department of Justice (DOJ) to intervene. While calling himself a "Cowboy capitalist" that fights his own fights and stating his belief that the marketplace will ensure that AMD is a major player by virtue of the performance of its products, when asked if AMD has been in touch with the DOJ in the last couple of months, Mr. Sanders replied evasively "I'd rather not comment on that." AMD plans for its price cuts to quickly push 1GHz processors into the mainstream and Mr. Sanders stressed several times that AMD plans to offer the "highest performance at any price point." The Dresden mega-fab is on a "remarkable ramp" and is currently producing all of the 1.1GHz Athlons and most of the 1GHz Athlons, Mr. Sanders revealed. When asked about Transmeta, Mr. Sanders said the company has found "a good niche" with low power devices, but does not look to be a player soon in the mainstream mobile arena. On the other hand, Mr. Sanders sees a "great future for Linux," the progeny of Transmeta's Linus Torvalds. Apparently dispelling rumors that the Sledehammer would debut as early as the end of this year, Mr. Sanders said Hammer is a 2001 event - 2002 before it is in volume. On Rambus, Mr. Sanders believes Intel's moves away from the intellectual property company is a "recognition of reality." In the presence of "real competition" from AMD, Intel cannot dictate to the market a more expensive standard that the market otherwise would reject, he claimed. Mr. Sanders stated that AMD is a market driven company as opposed to Intel who has traditionally followed the "this is what we're selling, this is what you are going to buy" mentality to use Mr. Sanders's words. Mr Sanders claimed that DDR SDRAM 1.2GHz Athlon systems available in Q4 will be a "world beating solution" while Rambus will languish in "a relatively small market share." On the mobile front, a 7th generation processor will be available before the end of this year and Mr. Sanders expects it to make significant contributions to revenues in the first half of next year. This 7th gen. Mobile product will put AMD in the "performance space" of the mobile market for the first time, Mr. Sanders continued. Mr. Sanders let slip that the "Claw Hammer" will be AMD's first 8th generation product (64-bit) in the desktop space. We tried to confirm with AMD if "Claw Hammer" was an official codename for a Hammer product, and, moreover, if it would be the first Hammer from AMD, but the representative refused to discuss any Hammer product besides the "Sledgehammer which will target the server space." This suggest that the Claw Hammer, if it exists, is a separate product. tomshardware.com Milo