Intel Corp (INTC)

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Core is important, believes Wong, because the kinds of instructions it uses to run the microprocessor make the chips faster than AMD’s, and AMD’s introduction of new chips code-named “Phenom” and “Barcelona” this year will be brushed aside by manufacturing improvements by Intel as the company fabricates more chips with features measuring 45 billionths of a meter instead of the current 65 billionths.

“We expect Intel’s strong microprocessor position will result in microprocessor market share gains in all segments over the next two years,” writes Wong. About 40% of Intel’s chips use the Core design today, says Wong, and that should pervade the entire product line by the end of the year. Core has yet to reach Intel’s “value” chips in desktop systems, such as the Celeron D, writes Wong. That should change the second half of this year. Intel’s multi-processor chips will go Core in the third quarter with the introduction of its “Tigerton” line of microprocessors, he says.