Protracted processor versus: AMD vs Intel

AMD's old rival, Intel, has been subjected to a series of antitrust regulatory lawsuits in recent years, and AMD is hoping to get a bigger share of the PC chip market.

Intel's leading position in the PC market continues to grow, while AMD struggles to get out of the losses. AMD replaced the CEO and recently announced layoffs.

AMD has been in Silicon Valley for more than 40 years and is considering a new strategy. Its fierce rivalry with Intel has been one of the most closely watched issues in the industry. Some experts believe that AMD's new strategy could dramatically change its long-standing battle with Intel.

"We are at a turning point," said Mike Silverman, a spokesman for AMD Inc. We're going to give up the old idea of AMD versus Intel because it's not going to happen again. ”

AMD has been unclear about its plans, but the company is widely expected to focus on smartphones and Tablet PCs. These markets are monopolized by other companies, and even AMD's old rival, Intel, is trying to squeeze in. The two are likely to have a new scramble.

Dean McCarron, an analyst at Mercury Research at the US market studies firm, believes AMD must make changes to keep up with consumers ' tastes.

"There is a big restructuring going on in the world, and all companies are coping with the new situation," he said. ”

AMD was founded in 1969. Intel was established a year earlier than AMD. The two companies have struggled to get around patents since the early 80. At that time, IBM selected Intel's x86 microprocessor in the PC, and AMD as a standby chip supplier.

Later, AMD developed its own x86 products and accused Intel of using intimidation and other improper means to prevent the computer to use AMD's processor. The Battle of the two escalated.

AMD filed a wide-ranging antitrust lawsuit with Intel in 2005. A few years later, Japan, South Korea, New York State, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Europe have also filed similar lawsuits against Intel. The European Union issued a 1.45 billion-dollar ticket to Intel.

Intel has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and is currently appealing for an EU fine. But in 2009, Intel agreed to pay 1.25 billion of billions of dollars to AMD and, in 2010, reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, promising to change some of its practices. New York State's lawsuit is still pending.

AMD executives had hoped that the legal action would help them gain a bigger share of the PC microprocessor market, but it backfired. IDC, the US market research firm, showed that AMD's share of the market was 23% in 2006, while Intel accounted for 75%, and since then AMD has fallen to around 19%, while Intel has grown to 80%.

AMD buys a 5.6 billion dollar heavy debt on the back of a graphics chipmaker. In 2009, AMD sought to cut costs by splitting its manufacturing operations with its joint venture home, GlobalFoundries. However, AMD was already in a long-term financial loss, and the idea was poorly echoed on Wall Street.

Since then, AMD's revenue has turned good, and its chip quality has won praise from users. Still, the industry has criticized AMD for being less technologically than intel, relying too much on the growth-slowing PC business.

It is reported that the reason behind AMD's removal of CEO Dirk Meyer in January this year was the company's failure to successfully penetrate the smartphone and tablet chip market. Meyer joined AMD in 2008. This August, Lenovo's former CEO, Rory Read, took over AMD's CEO position.

Meanwhile, AMD's doom continues. AMD cut its revenue and profit forecasts in September this year, as AMD's top chip sales declined as a result of a faulty factory product in GlobalFoundries, Germany. Earlier this month, AMD announced it would lay off 1400 people, accounting for about 12% of its total workforce.

Intel's business, by contrast, is booming. Last year, Intel sold nearly 44 billion dollars, AMD at $6.5 billion trillion.

Some analysts believe AMD could retaliate by using chip designs developed by the United Kingdom arm, a former rival to Intel. Arm now dominates the smartphone and tablet chip market.

Some experts predict that AMD may produce chips based on x86 and arm designs. If AMD uses ARM's design entirely, it will essentially isolate intel from the x86 business.

AMD has pledged to elaborate on its new strategy in February next year, but so far it has revealed that it will seek "growth opportunities" in low-energy devices, emerging markets and Internet services.

Creative strategies analyst Tim Bajarin said that no matter which path AMD chooses, it would be better to take a different approach than in the past, because "the post-PC-era microprocessor market has indeed changed." ”

Attached: small data of AMD

Establishment Date: 1969

Headquarters: Sunnyvale (Sunnyvale)

Business areas: Chip manufacturing, mainly for PCs

Number of employees: around 12,000 people worldwide. It has been announced that 1400 layoffs will be laid.

2010 Sales: 6.49 billion USD

2010 Profit: USD 471 million

(Responsible editor: Lu Guang)