Stakes Claim To Processor AMDPerformance Chipmaker makes gains in the desktop and notebook markets Advanced Micro Devices is living up to its name — and corporate IT leaders are taking notice. MD’s family of AMD64 processors for the server, Aworkstation and PC markets has consistently surpassed Intel on performance since its introduction in 2003, analysts say, which has resulted in record-high sales for the company, increasing market share and a growing popularity among buyers. While Intel still dominates with nearly 81 percent of the overall market, AMD is chipping away at Intel’s lead. AMD outsold Intel in U.S. retail stores last October, capturing 49.8 percent of PCs sold compared with Intel’s 48.5 percent, according to analyst firm Current Analysis, in Washington, D.C. In the corporate market, AMD has grabbed 12.7 percent of the server market since entering the space with its Opteron processor three years ago, according to Mercury Research, in Cave Creek, Ariz. Now the company is trying to leverage its growth in consumer PCs and server sales to increase sales of its desktop and notebook PCs in 70 • AMD Processors the corporate market. AMD executives say 85 of the top 100 “We’ve taken the memory out of the front side bus and companies in the Forbes Global 2000 used AMD processors in connected it to the processor and eliminated a 20-year-old its hardware in the third quarter of 2005. In the previous year, bottleneck,” he says. that figure was only 25. AMD’s processors also feature power management capabilities, “For AMD, from a mobile, desktop, server and workstation which use less electricity, create less heat and allow cooling fans perspective, our processors are more and more desired by to spin less. A security feature, which AMD calls Enhanced businesses across the board,” says Ben Williams, vice president Virus Protection, can thwart some viruses by preventing buffer of AMD’s commercial business. “Part of our strategy was to get overflow attacks. a foothold in the server and workstation markets. If we can run AMD positions its AMD64 processors as a way for businesses your mission-critical Oracle database, just think what we can do to continue to run 32-bit applications while protecting technology in your desktop.” investments for the future wave of 64-bit applications. The AMD, which owns less than 10 percent of the corporate upcoming release of the Windows Vista operating system is market, wants to triple its market share to 30 percent by 2009. expected to speed the move toward 64-bit computing. The firm has aggressively pursued the business market with new “We’re providing the greatest value in the market. It’s the full product innovations, beefed up marketing and sales efforts, and package that people value,” Williams says. “It’s not that AMD is partnerships with PC makers such as Acer, Fujitsu, Hewlett- the least expensive product, but if you look at our performance, Packard and Lenovo. price, features and benefits, it’s an impressive package.” Throughout 2005, AMD raced with Intel to release dual-core AMD continues to update its family of AMD64 processors. processors, which speeds computers To compete against Intel’s popular and servers by placing two CPUs and highly successful Centrino on the same silicon. Last August, chips, AMD last March released its AMD upped the ante by challenging AMD Turion 64 processor mobile Intel to a duel to determine which technology — featuring improved company’s dual-core processor battery life — for thin and light offered better performance. In AMD, which owns notebooks. December, when Intel ignored the In 2005, AMD also released dual- challenge, AMD declared victory less than 10 percent core chips that analysts say are by running full-page ads in daily technologically superior to Intel’s. newspapers with a graphic of an of the corporate market, According to Gartner, dual-core AMD Opteron chip standing alone chips will deliver up to 70 percent in a boxing ring. wants to triple its market better performance than single- While Intel has a firm grasp of the core chips and will account for the corporate market, analysts say AMD majority of processors shipped in share to 30 percent has become a viable alternative. 2007. AMD’s Opteron chips for servers by 2009. The power of dual-core chips have improved AMD’s credibility allows antivirus software to among corporate IT administrators, run in the background without paving the way for the chipmaker to affecting the performance of other try and sell AMD-powered desktop applications, such as e-mail and Web and notebook PCs. surfing, Williams says. “We live in “Both Intel and AMD offer products that are more than a multitasking environment, and having multicore processors sufficient in meeting the most common requirements that exist handle tasks more efficiently makes your system more robust.” within the enterprise today,” says analyst Mark Margevicius, While AMD’s AMD64 architecture was geared toward of Gartner, in Stamford, Conn. “Because of Opteron’s success, multicore designs, in 2005 Intel built its dual-core chips by customers are now more willing to accept AMD. The barriers essentially bolting together two single-core chips onto a single within customers’ minds are now significantly less.” piece of silicon, says analyst Nathan Brookwood, of Insight64, in Saratoga, Calif. The chip giant will release new dual-core AMD’s Chip Innovations processors in 2006, featuring better architecture and improved In 2003, AMD introduced its AMD64 family of processors, performance that will be competitive with AMD, he says. which included the AMD Opteron chip for servers and workstations and the AMD Athlon 64 processors for both Cracking the Corporate Market desktop and notebook PCs. The AMD Athlon 64, designed for Analysts say industry benchmarks show that the AMD’s business users, consumers and gamers, was the first Windows- Athlon 64 processors have consistently outperformed Intel for compatible x86 architecture-based 64-bit processor. the past several years, including the two rivals’ recent dual-core The AMD Athlon 64 processors, which run both 32- and offerings. But AMD’s technological advances won’t translate 64-bit applications, feature an innovative processor design, into big market share gains unless more PC manufacturers build called Direct Connect Architecture, which boosts performance business PCs that use AMD chips, says Gartner’s Margevicius. by removing bottlenecks in the computing functions of servers “AMD has done some interesting things on power management, and computers. “The architecture eliminates front side bus and dual core and other features that make it a very compelling creates direct high-speed links from the CPU to the memory argument for enterprise customers, but they need to convince PC controller, the I/O and other CPUs,” Williams says. OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] that having a second 4 AMD Processors • 71 choice in the enterprise is worth the investment,” he says. right partners together to serve the end customer.” AMD’s Williams agrees with the assessment and expects PC To further compete in the business market, AMD last makers to double their AMD64 technology-based commercial September announced the Commercial Stable Image Platform offerings in 2006. Acer, Fujitsu, HP and Lenovo are AMD’s main (CSIP), a platform-stability program that aims to standardize partners in the corporate PC market. the hardware configurations, such as motherboards and graphics In 2005, HP launched a full line of PCs with AMD chips built chipsets, for corporate PCs. The goal is to reduce the amount in, including the HP xw9300 workstation running Opteron of hardware configurations IT departments must support, which processors, the HP dx5150 business desktop running AMD reduces PC costs. According to Gartner, Intel has long provided Athlon 64 processors and the AMD Turion 64-powered HP such stability for Intel-based PCs, so creating CSIP is critical for Compaq nx6125 notebook for small- and mid-sized businesses. AMD’s efforts to boost corporate sales. In 2005, Acer released the Acer Aspire 5000 series notebook, with AMD Turion 64-chip mobile technology built in, for Bright Future Ahead medium-sized businesses. AMD executives believe the company will continue to gain In 1999, AMD began pursuing its strategy for the corporate momentum. During the third quarter of 2005, which ended in market by building competitive processors and slowly increasing October, AMD reported an all-time sales high of $1.5 billion and support among PC makers, software vendors and resellers, a 44 percent year-over-year increase in server and PC processor Williams says. AMD has since partnered with giant software sales. Williams expects continued double-digit growth in 2006. makers, such as Microsoft, Oracle and SAP, and has made sure AMD executives say the company will continue to enhance its its chips are optimized for their software. processors in 2006 with the release of dual-core Turion processors “It’s something we’re taking a long-term view of and over for the notebook computer market during the first half of the the past two years, we’ve seen significant increases in OEMs year. The company will also update its existing processors with providing commercial products based on AMD,” Williams says. added security; support for DDR2 (double data rate two), a faster “We are now filling out our entire ecosystem. We’re bringing the version of computer memory; and new virtualization features, 72 • AMD Processors which allows servers, desktops and notebooks to run multiple processor performance without super-fast clock speeds, many operating systems. government agencies are rewriting their computer requirements Analysts say they believe AMD’s aggressive efforts are already in a more vendor-independent fashion, allowing AMD to make a paying dividends.