AMD needs money?

[INKster]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070215/apfn_amd_analyst_note.html?.v=1

I had no idea this price war with Intel could hurt them so badly in such a short period of time.
Care to share your thoughts on the implication for future R6xx follow-ups, as well as future CPU pricing and positioning ?

 

[dizietsma]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070215/apfn_amd_analyst_note.html?.v=1

I had no idea this price war with Intel could hurt them so badly in such a short period of time.
Care to share your thoughts on the implication for future R6xx follow-ups, as well as future CPU pricing and positioning ?

It is hurting at the moment and with the most recent amount of price cuts by Intel followed just a couple of days ago AMD's reactive price cuts it will hurt all the way until K10 comes along in 2H07. I think AMD are happy to do this in the short term to gain or at least keep market share so that there is a good base for when K10 arrives and then they will get payback with hopefully better ASP's if the chip is better than whatever Intel is putting out then.

Maybe the money side is compounded on how much they have spent recently ? New FAB, update to old FAB, proposal for FAB in New York and ATI aquisition, a lot of those not coming cheap.

Money wise I do not see too much of a problem for them though, perhaps the New York FAB might be put on ice though depending on sales in 2007 and how well K10 does.

 

[epicstruggle]

keep in mind that amd is also hoping that the antitrust against intel/dell has some strong legs. A bit of an update on it:
http://money.cnn.com/blogs/legalpad/2007/02/suit-intel-paid-dell-up-to-1-billion_15.html

Potentially devastating antitrust accusations against Intel (INTC) were buried inside a recently filed shareholder suit against Dell Inc. (DELL). Though the Wall Street Journal did write about the suit here, the allegations do not seem to have attracted much attention. Maybe the suit got overlooked because it was filed the same day Dell CEO Kevin Rollins quit, and founder/chairman Michael Dell retook the company's reins. Or maybe people are just understandably skeptical of naked accusations contained in shareholder suits brought by class-action impresario Bill Lerach. (See earlier feature or post on Lerach.)

Still, the charges Lerach leveled in federal court in Austin on January 31 are hard to ignore. For one thing, they are tantalizingly detailed--describing, for instance, the goings on at "weekly server group staff meetings" and "quarterly server group town hall meetings" at Dell--suggesting that a Dell insider might be cooperating with Lerach. In any case, if the claims turn out to be true, the Olympian reputations of Intel founder Andy Grove and Dell founder Dell could be due for some unflattering makeovers--like those endured by sluggers Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds after the BALCO steroid inquiry.

Amd could get some great news from the feds if they act against Intel/Dell. Only time will tell.

epic
disclosure: Im currently an amd stockholder

 

[3dilettante]

I don't think there's any certainty that what Intel and Dell did was illegal.

Intel has been apparently very careful about keeping its incentives and punishments from clearly crossing the line.

Look at Microsoft, a company that was more of a monopoly than Intel. Its punishment was pretty light.

 

[Geo]

An LBO by outsiders would be a disaster for graphics, most likely. Those things are often financed in part by selling off bits. I certainly hope the rumor referred to there never comes to pass.

 

[Sound_Card]

sigh, it pains me to hear these stories.

Would it be crazy to think Microsoft should buy AMD(if anybody is to buy them)?

 

[Razor1]

Microsoft making hardware . Didn't they try that in the past.

I mean even thier keyboards and mice aren't that good

 

[Skrying]

Microsoft making hardware . Didn't they try that in the past.

I mean even thier keyboards and mice aren't that good

Microsoft makes great keyboards, far better than Logitech in feel. Though Microsoft mice are another matter.

 

[Razor1]

keyboards are ok, personally wouldn't say they are great.

 

[Sound_Card]

Microsoft making hardware . Didn't they try that in the past.

I mean even thier keyboards and mice aren't that good

I'm thinking a lttile more outside the box than just hardware.
(cough COUGH, I actully like their keyboards and mice!!, what so wrong with them?)

Imagined if MS did buy AMD(this is hypothetical, and in no way do I wish for this to happen..). They would have their own CPU, GPU, chip sets, and let's not forget OS. It would be the ultimate OEM deal. Then you have Microsofts other markets, such as windows for phones and PDA's, and xbox. No more going to third party hardware vendors, they have their own.

 

[Razor1]

MS tried thier hand in chip design, it didn't go well :smile:

on a side note thier peripheral hardware just doesn't have the greatest of quality, specially thier mice.

 

[John Reynolds]

on a side note thier peripheral hardware just doesn't have the greatest of quality, specially thier mice.

I used to tear through joysticks in the early 90s. Then I bought a 3D Sidewinder Pro for $55 in '96 and it's still sitting here on my desk, working just fine.

MS generally makes great hardware peripherals.

 

[Panajev2001a]

AMD made the mistake of a life-time spending that much money to buy ATI, if they really wanted a powerful and scalable graphics department they should have purchased IMG Tech. or at least their PowerVR unit (but likely they would not have sold it alone without the rest of the group). Likely they could have formed a chipset unit hiring some new guys and hand-picking others from the AMD and IMG. Tech parts, but the FUSION project would have went ahead anyways and they would be left with much more pocket money.

 

[Arun]

if they really wanted a powerful and scalable graphics department they should have purchased IMG Tech.

Indeed. Imagination Technologies has more relevant expertise for high-performance IGPs than the rest of the industry combined. And before anyone thinks I'm just kidding, I'm very serious here - I am, however, merely implying their technology is more viable for IGPs than simply scaling down anything from the discrete GPU world. The technical reasons for this are varied, but a number of them should also be quite obvious...

On the other hand, one apparently key reason behind the ATI acquisition is bundling chipsets, and even discrete GPUs, with CPUs. But considering NVIDIA has been gaining share in the motherboard/chipset market in Q406, and that their margins in that business have been increasing... Well, let's just say I'm more than a little bit skeptical about this until I see some practical results from it.

 

[Razor1]

I used to tear through joysticks in the early 90s. Then I bought a 3D Sidewinder Pro for $55 in '96 and it's still sitting here on my desk, working just fine.

MS generally makes great hardware peripherals.

Joysticks are good, still have my sidewinder pro too!

mice man I had some bad luck with them in 6 months I went through 3 intellimouse. Every single one of them the left click just stopped working

Back on topic, AMD is definilty walking a tightwire. If they execute as they plan I don't think money will be an issue, if they don't well something good can turn very ugly . The acquisition of ATi and Fusion has really motivated Intel even more, Intel now sees ATi as much more a threat then before (instead of short term losses, Intel sees AMD in the longer term where AMD can take on Intel), hopefully the court case goes in favor of AMD and ends soon, but in all likelyhood its going to drag out for a long time.

 

[Techno+]

is their stock falls really really low, will nvidia take the risk of purchasing them?

 

[epicstruggle]

is their stock falls really really low, will nvidia take the risk of purchasing them?

Nope, it would bring anti-trust issues into play. What would be more interesting is if Apple would buy the new amd. That combination would really be interesting.

 

[INKster]

Nope, it would bring anti-trust issues into play. What would be more interesting is if Apple would buy the new amd. That combination would really be interesting.

Don't think so.
Apple has resurged because of Intel, and their future road map (in 2005).
Intel is still the "king of the hill" in the CPU, chipset and graphics segments (via IGP's).

Imagine an Apple MacBook Pro with a Turion X2, competing with Intel Core 2 Duo notebooks...
Since Bootcamp would presumably still work with Apple + AMD CPU's/Chipsets (still x86, right ?), the reviews would definitively turn out to be bad PR.
Not to mention Intel is currently capable of supplying large quantities of full kits, meaning CPU's, IGP's, core logic, wireless chipsets, etc, all from the same source and support services.

If AMD wants a shot at Apple, they need to be price/performance competitive in the server and workstation arena, as well as in the ready-made mobile solutions.
In short, they need to prove that Apple needs their help more than they do Intel's.

 

[Arty]

Imagine an Apple MacBook Pro with a Turion X2, competing with Intel Core 2 Duo notebooks...

Apple didnt just go Intel, they went with x86 because the PPC roadmap wasnt satisfying their future requirements. AMD's Turion is more energy efficient than the comparable PPC cpus from IBM and the K10 should easily be as good if not better than the C2D.

Anyway all this a little off track.

 

[INKster]

K10 should easily be as good if not better than the C2D.

Anyway all this a little off track.

How long before a mobile version of K8L/K10/whatever to compete with Intel "Penryn", and then "Nehalem" ?