Comments on: New AMD chief knows the chips are down

By: Pete, Waterville ME

Pete, Waterville ME — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:16:42 +0000

I hear rumors that make sense. One jumped at me almost as a matter of fact. The headline was "Microsoft to buy AMD". Hey it makes sense… This way Microsoft could control chip development to match it's software or better yet, let AMD's R&D go wild and then design the software to support the CPU's. This would also let Microsoft get 3 slices of pie from each computer sale (The Operating System, The CPU and The Graphics Card)With controlled development the AMD Microsoft team up could easilly overrun Intel and steal a significant part of the market share..

By: Chong, Malaysia

Chong, Malaysia — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:33:44 +0000

I don't have high hopes for a master chip designer to lead a company that needs to focus on marketing and execution. Other chip designers like VIA and Transmeta had very viable designs but where are they today?

Another sore point I have with AMD is that they bought ATI and I have yet to see any real synergy coming from that deal.

And AMD has always lagged behind Intel in advances in chip manufacturing process (making the nanometers smaller) which is critical for low power and energy efficient chips needed for the future.

It will be sad to see AMD go – I am a PC builder and have used two generations of their chips and even though they may be cheaper and sound better on the spec sheet – they just don't feel as snappy as the Intel processors.

If AMD would ever catch up it would be after a prolonged period of Intel dominance leading them to blunder on bloat and inefficiencies, like what happened the last time.

By: Travis M, Omaha, Nebraska

Travis M, Omaha, Nebraska — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:19:24 +0000

I have a strong feeling that AMD will be making a huge comeback in the next couple years. The problem is just getting the momentum to do so. The chip market is a back and forth volley and always will be. AMD released the Athlon 64 chips and blew Intel away then got the Conroe Core 2 Duo chips in response.

From the looks of things AMD purchased ATI to merge for future plans of mimicing Apple. They want to have the compatibility advantage of all their hardware or at least 2 of the strongest performance components in the PC, CPU & Graphics. Just as Apple slaps their products together and runs their own software to run with it, all made up to be as compatible as possible with each component. So for now everybody will sit back and wait see what a new CEO and company structure produce for AMD

By: Joe, Oakland, CA

Joe, Oakland, CA — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:56:10 +0000

“We just grew to fast and didn’t have the right processes in place,”

The correct word is "too."

By: Steve Manchester NH

Steve Manchester NH — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:09:30 +0000

AMD has good products for a reasonable price. It's unfortunate that the public doesn't compare price vs. performance. In certain businesses the performance aspect is important and extra cost can be justified. However for the general public and non-graphic intense business applications, AMD will fill the bill at a much lower cost. These savings would help the bottom line and free up revenue for other uses.

I think a contracting economy could end up helping AMD. Both individuals and companies, looking to reduce cost, might choose adequacy over unneeded extra performance.

By: Chris, NY, NY

Chris, NY, NY — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:58:04 +0000

You guys are all the same bashers that downed AMD before and during the Athlon years… Wake up kids…. AMD will kill intel within the next two years.

AMD will be upwards of $30….

By: smart1, Sacramento, Ca

smart1, Sacramento, Ca — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:36:06 +0000

If you look at the financials for the last several quarters and the current balance sheet, you have to assume that without some kind of major cash infusion, AMD cannot survive more than a few quarters.

Even if they could find the cash somewhere, it would be so dilutive to the stock it would be a disaster for current stockholders. I think their only hope is to try to sell the ATI business and use that cash to try to resurrect AMD as a second tier X86 CPU supplier with no intention of trying to conquer Intel on all fronts. I also think they need to review their legal spending and convert almost all of that into operational or engineering spending.

By: Mike, Redwood City, CA

Mike, Redwood City, CA — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:48:18 +0000

I use a variety of AMD and INTC products, and I can't tell the difference. Both have features and bugs. The only noticeable differences are the logos and their stock prices. In the old days, AMD's new processors were often big, late, and slow, so they completely replaced the engineering organization. Now, AMD's problems are finance and management. INTC is now doing a better job in all of these areas. It's nice to have a choice between two suppliers; I hope they make it through these straits.

By: Stube Winkeldorn, New York, NY

Stube Winkeldorn, New York, NY — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:05:31 +0000

Fair comment on the trolls and the 'problems' but after building a x2 6000+ with 4gb of memory and having to fiddle with bios settings to bring up linux and set them back for Windows is the worse I have encountered. I agree with the comment that Intel has surpassed AMD in quality and engineering. Try running two monitors on a ATI 2600XT with Flight simulator on Vista and observe how pathetic the refresh is. I guess we can point to Vista or drivers or who know but it becomes very very tedious to perform as much monkeying around today to get software to work especially when the vendors provide NO help in finding out the source of the problem. AMD needs alot more work in all areas in my view

By: Ben Dover, New York NY

Ben Dover, New York NY — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:10:55 +0000

Quote

"How can any entity be successful if the focus is playing dirty tricks, show-boating, bragging, and filing endless, specious lawsuits? Meanwhile, INTEL focuses on quality, research, production, service, and reliability. We specify only INTC products and have no rational expectation to become involved with the likes of AMD."

You are correct.

Would you like to testify to the FTC, and the EU on our behalf?

Thanks

Paul Otellini