Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[bobs10]

It does seem like the semi market is being divided into those doing well and those not. It seems like a good part of the semi manufactures followed the usual boom/bust cycle, but another significant part resisted the urge to over capitalize and those guys are doing just fine.

On another subject it looks like the shift to blocks of manufactures/users with common interests is well under way. Take for instance the IBM/SONY/Toshiba group or IBM/Chartered/AMD grouping. Maybe Hector has been taking lessons from Sam and that's what the Macronix deal is about.

In any case I've been waiting for this to happen for awhile. It's probably only a matter of time before we see the consumer electronics guys pairing up with the PC guys in creative ways. When the music stops there are going to be fewer players in both the PC and consumer electronics areas, and alliances that cross over technology boundaries are going to be critical.

I've said many times I would like to see AMD doing something with SONY, but that does not look like it's going to happen. AMD definitely needs to hook up with one of the big consumer electronics guys. In 5 years time PCs will be very different from what they are today. The PC, in its' beige box, is going away but the smart processor is going into virtually everything and be at the center of the information network that the consumer electronics and PC markets are merging into.