Malkiel

AMD's New Roadmap: Can It Find the Way?

They're running out of project names for their chips. How about the "Maltese Falcon", or the "Scarlet Pimpernel"?...

Trouble Brewing Ahead For AMD’s Barcelona Processor

Intel and AMD never seem to have trouble unloading any of their chip designs on the market so long as they find the right price point. There are always makers of low-end pc's that can use just about any inferior design and get away with it on account of consumer ignorance. This is not to say that I think AMD's products are inferior, just that these problems won't make the chip unsalable...

AMD Is In Real Trouble

AMD has too much real technological and production capability to just go bust. They are a valuable asset to somebody and I can't see them hitting the floor before getting bought out. For strategic reasons Apple wouldn't want to be left facing a monopoly chip provider and using some of their vast cash to buy AMD at the right price, and then using their product, would make perfect business sense (changing out technology isn't something they've shied away from in the past). The same logic would apply to Hewlett Packard...

JP Morgan Expects A Selloff In Semiconductor Sector

Agreed with article and Crossprofit, except that I'm dubious about a big second-half for tech this year--maybe next year. There are a lot of catalysts building but not in play yet; Apple will capture pc desktop share from Windows providers, but it will be a slow process; INTC and AMD will quickly leapfrog to quad- and other advanced chip configs, but software writers will be slow on the uptake; convergence of computer and net with tv space is still missing some pieces, but not by much; music industry, radio, and sat radio are all confused about how to play the game. Good buys made this spring are more likely IMHO to see fruition in 08...

Color On AMD's Warning: Is Barcelona Chip A Savior?

I think AMD is another story Cramer has wrong, like LVLT, which isn't going to be the "stock of the year" for 2007. AMD won't go bankrupt, as he speculates, though being bought out can never be ruled out. Given the slow sales of pc's after the Vista launch I wouldn't be surprised to see INTC have to revise some of its numbers downward in a coming quarter, though if Apple becomes competitive on account of it then INTC will be the beneficiary. Getting AMD processors onto Apple laptops would be a coup worth plotting...

AMD: Disappointing Demand Means Lower Stock Price

Reading between the lines, some of this analysis sounds like as much bad news for Intel as for AMD. And a chip sold at discount by AMD is a chip not sold at all by Intel...

AMD in Trouble: Needs to Raise Cash & Develop Products

It was my understanding that AMD had recently made an agreement with a Chinese company to supply processors for models intended to be sold within China, which sounds promising in that big market, and it looks like AMD has cornered the market for laptop processors. I would have trouble believing they can't fight Intel to a standstill.

When it comes to processors the company that comes up with the important innovation first is guaranteed a highly profitable season before the competition catches up, so there's plenty of room for tactical victories in this marketplace. The company that offers up the first quad-core processor for production wins the next round...

The Intel/AMD Price War Doesn't Make Sense

The fruits of monopoly are legion, making some sacrifice in pursuit of the knockout blow worthwhile. Microsoft knocked Apple out of the ring a generation ago and has commanded 95% of their market for a span of more than a decade--with untold riches apparently continuing to the horizon. Intel has good enough prospects for seizing the virtual monopoly that it's worth struggling for in the short run...