XBitlabs: Advanced Micro Devices Set to Unveil New Strategy Next Week

[Idontcare]

Advanced Micro Devices Set to Unveil New Strategy Next Week

Advanced Micro Devices is quietly laying off massive amounts of people ahead of a major announcement that is set to take place next week, X-bit labs has learnt. The world’s second largest designer of x86 microprocessors intends to unveil its new strategy next week that will be different from the existing one.

AMD is in process of firing from 10% to 15% of staff (up to 1500 people), primarily from marketing and public relations departments, said a person familiar with the ongoing situation, who declined to be identified as the proceedings are not made public at this time. AMD has laid off four vice presidents, including Patrick Moorhead (corporate vice president of strategy and corporate fellow), Dave Kroll (vice president of global communications) and two others.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/...ces_Set_to_Unveil_New_Strategy_Next_Week.html

Looks like we will finally find out what it was that the BOD wanted Dirk to do so badly, and what it was that Dirk found to be so absurd in his mind that he was willing to step down and forgo millions in CEO pay rather than attempt to implement and pursue at the BOD's behest.

 

[podspi]

What the heck, I've been wrong with so many other predictions on this board (Llano will run at high clocks, BD IPC > PhII), so I'll throw down my prediction first:


AMD is going to be making ARM SoCs! Dirk thought it was ridiculous to focus on non-x86 architecture, and so he quit.

Bring on the ARM AMD APUs... I like the ring of that 😀

 

[cbn]

I thought Dirk Meyer had the right idea by not putting x86 in smartphones.

So this change of strategy could mean at least two things:

1. AMD decides to follow Intel with x86 in smartphones.

or

2. AMD will adopt ARM for Smartphones.

Pretty basic really.

I believe they are planning a creative strategy to get #2 to work. (But they are keeping this plan a secret till they work out all the kinks involved with such a massive shift in strategy)

Here are some of my reasons:

Rory Read has already mentioned his strategy involves three concepts:

1. Cloud: Liberation from Windows x86 (straightforward enough)
2. Emerging markets: Most likely he is referring to the Chinese market, but I am sure it involves other countries as well.
3. Low Power: This most likely includes the lowest power ARMv7 architectures (Not popular with the primary ARM licensees). These would play nicely with the upcoming low power reflective displays and slower wireless networks found in emerging markets.

 

[Idontcare]

What the heck, I've been wrong with so many other predictions on this board (Llano will run at high clocks, BD IPC > PhII), so I'll throw down my prediction first:


AMD is going to be making ARM SoCs! Dirk thought it was ridiculous to focus on non-x86 architecture, and so he quit.

Bring on the ARM AMD APUs... I like the ring of that 😀

How about APUs ARM AMD? Ya'gettit? 😛

I thought Dirk Meyer had the right idea by not putting x86 in smartphones.

So this change of strategy could mean at least two things:

1. AMD decides to follow Intel with x86 in smartphones.

or

2. AMD will adopt ARM for Smartphones.

Pretty basic really.

I believe they are planning a creative strategy to get #2 to work. (But they are keeping this plan a secret till they work out all the kinks involved with such a massive shift in strategy)

Here are some of my reasons:

Rory Read has already mentioned his strategy involves three concepts:

1. Cloud: Liberation from Windows x86 (straightforward enough)
2. Emerging markets: Most likely he is referring to the Chinese market, but I am sure it involves other countries as well.
3. Low Power: This most likely includes the lowest power ARMv7 architectures (Not popular with the primary ARM licensees). These would play nicely with the upcoming low power reflective displays and slower wireless networks found in emerging markets.

I like the idea, but compared to Nvidia's and Intel's resources and headstart into that market segment, as well as the momentum and resources of the existing stalwarts (Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, etc), I have no idea how AMD could hope to gain traction in that space while simultaneously making up for lost time.

Their ONLY advantage in the x86 race is they have superior GPU tech to bolt onto their chips. That advantage does not exist in the ARM race owing to Nvidia's presence (and lengthy headstart).

I just can't convince myself that AMD is actually going to chase after Nvidia, but nothing about AMD adheres to conventional wisdom so they may well pursue it.

AMD needs to be bought by Texas Instruments.

TI has an existing x86 license (so AMD's x86 license agreement being nullified by a buyout would be irrelevant), they have resources, and they have a massive entrenchment in the ARM space but they lack a superior contender to Nvidia's GPU tech. (i.e. they are faced with Intel's predicament, albeit in ARM space for TI)

TI might not care to get back into the x86 race though. We had a good run selling 486 chips, I worked in one of the fabs that was manufacturing them at the time and the clockspeed race was a rather exciting one from and engineering process development standpoint. Competition was good. But the economics were bad, so TI bailed on x86 when the pentium-era came of age.

But who knows now, I mean my god that was nearly 20yrs ago! D: (feel so old now...🙁)

 

[cbn]

How about APUs ARM AMD? Ya'gettit? 😛

If we use use the common letters between ARM + AMD we get "ARMD" (as the name for the new alliance. This is not my original idea. I saw this somewhere else)

If we throw APU in there and use common letters between ARM+ AMD+ APU we get "ARMD UP".

"ARMD UP" the new acronym for AMD ARM Powered APUs? 😀 (Sorry, Its cheesy but I just couldn't resist)

 

[Vesku]

Isn't TI trying to sell their main performance ARM line? Don't see why they'd be looking to buy if that is true. Then again it is a SEMIaccurate rumor, http://semiaccurate.com/2011/07/29/texas-instruments-selling-their-omap-division/

It does seem x86 problems might have combined with board resentment that Dirk was heavily involved in selling off their embedded graphics IP to Qualcomm. A push into ARM territory would be greatly assisted if they had held onto that.

 

[Fox5]

Sounds like AMD's new strategy is preparing to be purchased.

 

[sandorski]

AMD has a few options. Predictions[dons wizard hat]

1) Moves BD to Server platform only. No more Mainstream BD CPU's in Retail. Future development of BD will pass some enhancements to the Fusion line, but only those that make sense.

2) Fusion variants(Llano/Zacate/future variants based around BD)will be the only Processors available in the Mainstream/Retail market.

3) AMD will get involved with ARM in some fashion. Perhaps not a complete package, but bolt on parts for others to use.

 

[Gloomy]

They're breaking into the lucrative microwave burrito market. Trust me, I have an insider.

 

[cbn]

Okay,

Just for the fun of it!

If we take the following pool of letters: OMAP AMD ARM APU

I come up with ARM'D UP + A AP ("armor piercing") AMMO.

All the letters get used up!

 

[Soulkeeper]

I'm not convinced AMD will tell us anything substantive. Seems like they just want the "why" questions to be buried.
Corporate transparency (or more accurately board of directors transparency) seems poor in relation to their recent decisions.

I hate this board of directors for some reason ...

 

[Idontcare]

They're breaking into the lucrative microwave burrito market. Trust me, I have an insider.

Lies! AMD avoids anything remotely resembling "lucrative" like the plague, and we all know the microwave burrito market itself is not an emerging market. Its become a commodity thanks to the flood of cheap asian imports 😀

 

[DaveSimmons]

They're teaming up with Nestle, to make chocolate chips?

(Bulldozer's heatsink should be perfect for baking cookies with them 😉 )



... but seriously, I hope it isn't something HP-stupid. We need competition.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Hoooot pockets

 

[piesquared]

AMD has a few options. Predictions[dons wizard hat]

1) Moves BD to Server platform only. No more Mainstream BD CPU's in Retail. Future development of BD will pass some enhancements to the Fusion line, but only those that make sense.

2) Fusion variants(Llano/Zacate/future variants based around BD)will be the only Processors available in the Mainstream/Retail market.

3) AMD will get involved with ARM in some fashion. Perhaps not a complete package, but bolt on parts for others to use.

This is what I expect also. Especially since Trinity is coming earlier than expected and also aimed at the desktop. They wouldn't get the ultra high end, but they don't have it now so so what. As long as they still have a presence in the desktop market with Trinity, that's plenty enough to get chips in the most important segments. And they don't have to waste server dies that way either.

Not sure what might be happening with ARM though. No doubt they are collaberating on something.

 

[cbn]

I really hope AMD's "WIN" plan does involve partially pursing low profits (at least initially) for at least two major reasons:

1. The competition will be sparse while they obtain the strategic "low profit" goal.

2. If they play their cards right (and this remains to be seen) maybe what is currently a low profit market will become tomorrow's high profit market. <----This with the advantage of AMD potentially becoming "First to market" rather than a "Me too" competitor.

Of course, to support this low profit effort AMD needs to be strong in their current high profit area which is "Server".

 

[cbn]

Speaking of "lower profit becoming higher profit" and "higher profit becoming lower profit", compare and contrast:

1. What could happen to the "Higher profit" Bobcat? (notice price compression in the upcoming x86 notebook market)
2. What could have happened with the "lower profit" ATI Mobile GPU group if AMD would have decided to keep it (rather than sell it).

 

[Malfeas]

They're teaming up with Nestle, to make chocolate chips?

(Bulldozer's heatsink should be perfect for baking cookies with them 😉 )



... but seriously, I hope it isn't something HP-stupid. We need competition.

AMD's Bulldozer chips will be the new heatsource in the revamped easybake ovens.

 

[Tsavo]

They're teaming up with Nestle, to make chocolate chips?

(Bulldozer's heatsink should be perfect for baking cookies with them 😉 )



... but seriously, I hope it isn't something HP-stupid. We need competition.

I have it on good authority that AMD bought three potato fabs in Idaho so they can make potato chips. :hmm:

 

[cbn]

Sounds like AMD's new strategy is preparing to be purchased.

Then I would have to call in these guys!

CHiPS to prevent Computer Hardware Intellectual Property Stolen!

 

[LoneNinja]

My prediction...they've scrapped Piledriver and all future AM3+ processors. They will instead focus on Trinity and future APUs while ignoring the high end CPU business. Low power APUs for laptops and small form factor PCs and work on modifying Bobcat to be even lower power for tablets. Possibly even work with ARM like Nvidia is doing to get into the cellphone market.

I could be wrong...but I've got a strong feeling we're never seeing competitive AMD in the desktop space again.

 

[RussianSensation]

Rory is likely going after sleek tablets, smartphones and ultrathin computers. They might even start working on a phone chip, or acquire someone that already has one. Problem is, even Micron is looking to enter that space.

It's going to get awfully competitive in smartphones/tablets soon. If AMD licenses ARM, how are they going to differentiate their chip from countless other competitors? If they target tablets, how in the world are they going to tap into Apple's food chain which has a 90&#37; tablet market share?

There probably is a very good reason why Dirk wasn't about to go to war with Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Samsung or Apple. You'd need billions of dollars to compete. $200 million is going to evaporate in 1-2 quarters competing with those guys.

 

[piesquared]

Read spells it out here in the conferance call at 29:40. Why pour in resources for 10&#37; of your market split, which will be partially covered by next gen APU's very soon anyway. Read wants to drive APU's, where they believe they have an advantage with their GPU division.

http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/xsunxb2u/lan/en

 

[RussianSensation]

Read spells it out here in the conferance call at 29:40. Why pour in resources for 10&#37; of your market split, which will be partially covered by next gen APU's very soon anyway. Read wants to drive APU's, where they believe they have an advantage with their GPU division.

http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/xsunxb2u/lan/en

Possible translation: Why worry about competing with NV/Intel at high-end (which costs so much $$ to design a good GPU/CPU and entails a lot of risk), when we can just regain whatever lost market share we have by selling more APUs in emerging markets and markets that require low-powered devices?

I.e., Is he hinting that the R&D budget for high-end discrete graphics/desktop CPUs is going to be diverted towards mobile/tablet/smartphone chips?

😵.

 

[soccerballtux]

Possible translation: Why worry about competing with NV/Intel at high-end (which costs so much $$ to design a good GPU/CPU and entails a lot of risk), when we can just regain whatever lost market share we have by selling more APUs in emerging markets and markets that require low-powered devices?

I.e., Is he hinting that the R&D budget for high-end discrete graphics/desktop CPUs is going to be diverted towards mobile/tablet/smartphone chips?

😵.

doesn't make sense. They can't do that with x86, and if they try to do it with ARM, yeah right, they'll be a year late and $1m short of 'whatever their target was'-- there are already enough ARM competitors with powerful chips coming out in 2012 let alone 2014.