Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[bobs10]

VanderPool vs Pacifica

Interesting, now that AMD has stolen X86 from INTC with AMD-64, AMD is now stealing another page from the INTC playbook. It looks more and more like AMD is hell-bent on differentiating itself from anything INTC. INTC, of course, tried the same thing with the Itanium, but in that case they went about 5 bridges too far. AMD's pace of creating differentiation where it's appropriate and needed will undoubtedly pay off in the long run. Too bad INTC is still tied to that FSB and has nothing like HT. INTC is going to be playing catch up for a very long time, something that is going to become more and more obvious.

For me the two biggest items to have happened this year were the SUN conversion to AMDism and the rather pathetic dithering DELL went through when it had really no place else to go. The SUN conversion has undoubtedly given AMD a cachet that it didn't have before and forced the other non-DELL players into closer relationships with AMD than probably would have occurred otherwise. Remember the INTC products being sported now by the OEMs were most likely decided on 2/3 or more years ago. These guys work in glacial time. The DELL whining also was beneficial to AMD as it also legitimized AMD's offerings. By DELL going through their very public angst they as much as said that DELL was losing business because INTC had fallen behind AMD's technology. I'm sure that message came through loud and clear to a whole lot of people.