Microprocessor maker AMD has long held the sympathy of IT enthusiasts, thanks to its plucky efforts to compete with giant Intel. Now it will need all the support it can get if it is to succeed in offering a realistic alternative to Intel's Pentium and forthcoming 64bit Itanium processors in business PCs.
Although AMD enjoyed great success last year, selling its Athlon chips into notebook and consumer desktop PCs, the firm has had little experience of the corporate sector, where Intel supplies the processors for almost all PC desktops and servers.
There are a host of reasons for Intel's dominance. First, its processors have usually had an advantage in performance. Second, its size allows it to enjoy hugely advantageous economies of scale. Third, and most damning, AMD has an appalling record in reliably delivering to equipment manufacturers. Fourth, Intel has spent huge sums on building one of the world's most familiar brands. And finally, Intel has been helped by the fact that AMD has often offered a somewhat sparse product range that has deterred some PC makers.
AMD'S chip roadmap
However, AMD supporters believe that the wind is changing. AMD's Athlon processors have often outpaced Intel parts in the last two years. This year, AMD will, for the first time in its history, have a strong end-to-end portfolio, from entry-level desktop and mobile chips, to workstation and multiprocessor server building blocks.
AMD is also building up capacity and reliability at a time when Intel has been hit by uncharacteristic failures, a cool reception for the Pentium 4 and a long wait before Itanium will be widely available. In the consumer sector, Dell remains the only big PC manufacturer that exclusively uses Intel chips. AMD is also putting infrastructure in place to bolster its enterprise push, with a new factory due for completion in 2004.
'We're putting a lot more effort into business PCs this year,' said Richard Baker, regional marketing manager at AMD. 'The main reason that we've been held back is the lack of an integrated motherboard with graphics. Enterprises need a consistent platform.' Now, with the VIA ProSavage KM chipset, AMD-based PCs can offer that consistency at a time when Intel's chipset changes have left some buyers with doubts.
With the recent 760 chipset that supports fast DDR memory, AMD can also offer a workstation-class product. In addition, its first symmetric multiprocessing chipset, the 760MP, should be available soon. A 64bit processor that is also capable of running 32bit code without performance penalties  unlike Intel's Itanium  is due next year.
AMD admitted that it has so far had limited success in the enterprise market. 'We have had most success in dot-coms, where workgroups are given carte blanche on PC buying, and in the public sector, where buyers are less hung up on brands,' said Baker.
And even with Intel looking relatively vulnerable and AMD relatively strong, there is no guarantee that blue-chip firms will purchase AMD-based systems. As well as overcoming the power of the Intel brand, AMD must wait for big customers to evaluate AMD processors to assuage fears over compatibility and performance. AMD offers IT buyers a valuable second source of PC processors, and by competing against Intel it helps to keep prices down. But Intel will remain the dominant force in PCs for many years to come.
