AMD used an annual event for analysts to demonstrate its combination of CPU and GPU (graphics processing unit) technologies on a single die, touting availability to OEMs for early 2011. Observers were impressed, but professed themselves skeptical about the company's ability to gain market share from Intel.

A Deutsche Bank analyst's note said the company's Nov. 9 Analyst Day again demonstrated the new approach at AMD, and said AMD management is "clearly focused" on improving profitability and returns to shareholders.

However, Deutsche Bank analysts noted they remain skeptical of AMD's ability to grow meaningful market share over the long term, adding they believe AMD can be a more profitable company — even in the absence of market share gains and lower discrete GPU attach rates — by focusing on growing in new market segments.

Nathan Brookwood, research fellow at Insight 64, said, "AMD Fusion products represent the biggest advancement in processor technology since the industry's switch to multicore designs. Fusion enables a quantum increase in the performance of entry-level and mainstream processors, and helps software developers enrich their offerings in ways that would previously have been hard to imagine. These enhanced applications, in turn, will give the PC industry tools to tap into new opportunities that only the latest GPU technology can provide."

AMD announced several updates to its 2012 road maps, including:

• "Krishna" and "Wichita": Two and four-core 28nm chips based on "Bobcat" CPU cores and a DirectX 11-capable GPU, designed for the tablet, notebook, HD netbook, and desktop form factors
• "Trinity": a 32nm chip based on "Bulldozer" CPU cores and a DirectX 11-capable GPU, designed for mainstream and high-performance desktops and notebooks
• "Komodo": a 32nm CPU featuring up to 10 "Bulldozer" cores, designed for high-performance and enthusiast desktops
• "Terramar" and "Sepang": Two new 32nm CPUs for the server market based on "Bulldozer." Targeting the enterprise, "Terramar" will scale up to 20 cores while "Sepang" is for the cost-optimized, energy-efficient market and will scale up to 10 CPU cores

AMD — which was late to the netbook market and has seen its CPUs featured in relatively few offerings — has appeared to place little emphasis on the embedded space recently, effectively ceding it to Intel, ARM licensees, and Via. However, Bobcat, revealed earlier this year, has been claimed to run using under one Watt in some versions. Unlike Intel's Atom, it will also include an out-of-order instruction engine, according to AMD.

AMD's 2011 desktop CPU roadmap
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AMD's 2011 server CPU roadmap
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AMD's 2011 desktop CPU roadmap
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Dirk Meyer, AMD president and CEO, "AMD's business model has consistently delivered operating profits this year, while the strength of our platform offerings drove continued expansion of our customer base. With our upcoming AMD Fusion APUs combining our DirectX 11-capable graphics processors and next-generation microprocessors on a single chip, we are poised to lead the industry's next computing era with richer, more vivid digital experiences."

An analyst note from securities and investment banking group Jefferies & Co. was also cautiously optimistic about the company in the wake of AMD's announcements. "We do recognize AMD has made substantial improvements to its profitability and capital structure, and that its APU strategy offers compelling differentiation, but we continue to wait for better indications of success with its new products before getting more constructive," the research note concluded.

Further information

A blog entry by AMD Chief Marketing Officer Nigel Dessau discussing the company's 2010 Financial Analyst Day may be found here. A webcast of the entire event, with related PDF files, may be found on the company's website, here.

Fahmida Y. Rashid is a writer for our sister publication eWEEK.com.

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