How would AMD make a comeback?

[MrStimX]

Hey guys,
I'm currently writing a research paper and one very tiny section of it deals with 'crowd intelligence' (until i term it better) specifically for the tech industry.

The basic idea answers the question if we could gather the combined intelligence of say 100 people, would they make better and/or similar management decisions compared to 10 people in a board room, which will be tracked throughout the duration of 12 months...
specifically on channeling AMD into a better position to become a market leader.

I'm new to these forums but have 'lurked' here for a couple of years.
MY first PC was a 80286 and my first overclock was a pentium 133 to 150, though it did result in lower memory bandwidth...so i do have some street cred as far as this forum goes i hope

In any case, it would be appreciated if you could chime in on your input if you have any.

I'll start first as an example by throwing out completely random ideas which may or may not fall into the category of 'management decisions' (doesn't matter)

1. Retire AM3 socket and focus entirely on AM2
2. Develop 8-core AM2 designs
3. Research on allowing better graphic performance when the IGP on an APU is paired with a discreet card. e.g Virtu LucidLogix
4. Ensure next AM2 APU increases single threaded performance by at least 20%
5. Give Sony ownership of 5% of AMD to ensure Mantle is becomes a cross platform API while also ensuring full Linux and cryengine support
6.Give Ruby bigger cleavage (valid marketing decision, didnt they do the same on Lara Croft accidentally?)

Many thanks again.
Mods, if this is not the correct forum section for this post, pls advise and i'll remove it.

 

[Soulkeeper]

AM2 != FM2/FM2+
I wish AMD would not abandon the highend/enthusiast/gamer market ...
Many of us are hoping they'll combine/consolidate the FM2+/FM3 socket to be pin compatible with replacement for the highend FX series CPUs alongside the APUs.

Personally I can see AMD hanging on, they just won't be back to their socket A glory days anytime soon (if ever).
Pending a miracle breakthru in technology/design.

 

[Meghan54]

Beg Intel for help?

Sell Intel their gpu IP?

Otherwise, AMD as a cpu maker will remain the bargain basement choice of cpus.

 

[mfenn]

I can see AMD's CPU division going entirely over to the semi-custom market like they're doing with the current consoles. They certainly have the design chops, but they just can't compete with Intel on fab technology. If the next gen consoles do well (big if), then they should be set with a nice revenue stream. I could also see them doing ARM chips if the customer asked for that.

I think the GPU side of the house is doing much better. They're solidly competing with Nvidia on performance and so aren't stuck with competing solely on price like the CPU division is.

 

[Ancalagon44]

Its an interesting research topic, but what do you want from us?

The way I see it, its impossible to evaluate whether 100 random people would make better decisions than AMD management - we will never know. Also, we know a lot less about AMD's current state in terms of product roadmap etc than they do.

But, to answer the question, I cant think of much that AMD is doing wrong at the moment. However, where they screwed up is in the past - but its too late for that! Besides it wont help with your research.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I read an interesting mystery novel about this concept. The police in a small town sent out a survey and tabulated responses to try to determine the killer. It is an interesting concept, but in a technical field like this, I think if you just picked 100 random people off the street, their conclusion would be more or less random, since they lack technical knowledge about the subject.

As to your original question, I guess my response would be closer to number 3. I think they are on the right track, trying to emphasize gaming and unique software like Mantle and HSA instead of trying to compete on a technical level, which they have no chance of winning vs intel. I dont see them ever becoming a market leader though, except in some small niche like gaming.