Advanced Micro Devices Inc is rolling out
a much-awaited line-up of chips for laptops, as Intel Corp's main rival
seeks to regain a competitive footing against the world's biggest chip
maker.
AMD, which in April posted its sixth consecutive quarterly loss amid
missteps and market-share losses to Intel, said the launch of the
processors and related parts, code-named Puma, is its largest-ever
launch for notebook personal computers.
AMD counts more than 100 different notebook PCs designed to use
versions of the Puma platform. "This is double the design wins over any
previous mobile launches," Leslie Sobon, director of product marketing
at AMD, said in a phone interview.
PC makers using Puma chips include Acer Inc, Asus, Dell Inc, Fujitsu
Siemens Computers BV and Hewlett-Packard Co, she said. Prices for the
mobile PCs will be mid-range for laptops, from about $700 up to $2,000.
Most will be available in time for the back-to-school shopping season,
and some will be available this week.
Growth in desktop PCs has been slowing for years, and the mobile
segment is where the fastest growth is in the PC industry. Market
research firm IDC predicts that consumers will buy more mobile PCs than
desktop PCs by the end of this year.
"It is a good platform and I think the design wins are a testament
to that fact," IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell said. "Everybody wants a
serious competitor to Intel, you can't ignore that. But people aren't
going to randomly take an alternative if it's not any good."
Sunnyvale, California-based AMD is offering three versions of the
Puma platform -- a collection of the microprocessor, wireless chips to
connect to WiFi, and related chips. Puma uses AMD's Turion X2 Ultra
Dual-Core processor as its brain.
At the cheaper end, AMD's new platform will use graphics technology
integrated in the chipset, allowing video-gaming and also good enough
to play back digital media seamlessly.
AMD launches Puma notebook chip line