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Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is focused. Focused on the future. And that future is a 64-bit world in which everything from portable PCs to servers to networking gear is powered by AMD Opteron or Athlon processors. To do it, the Sunnyvale, Calif., semiconductor manufacturer has been steadfastly signing up OEMs to build Opteron servers—the latest toll for which is more than 50 worldwide. With its major release of the 64-bit client processor, the Athlon 64, set for next week, there seems to be no slowing down AMD or CEO Hector de Ruiz, who's been on a tear across the country getting the word out about the chip's high performance, 32-bit backward compatibility and low cost. eWEEK Executive Editor/News, Michael R. Zimmerman, caught up with de Ruiz in New York earlier this week at TechXNY to talk about life since April and the launch of the Opteron and the future.


eWEEK: Has the Opteron message—the 64-bit computing with 32-bit backward compatibility—been embraced by users as well as you could have expected?

View: Advanced Micro Devices, AMD
News source: eWeek

RUIZ: Yeah…we divide the industry into three parts: the enterprise users, the people who are actually going to use the technology; the OEM, the people who make the boxes; and the software and hardware infrastructure that supports all that, I have to say we are doing better than we thought. I think that the enterprise has really embraced the whole concept, they're very excited about the product. IBM's been a big help, of course, signing on to start building some products. And I think that has attracted a lot of interest. But I find it also kind of fascinating, this is really an industry change, it's not just a new product for another two quarters. But it's a 10-years—I don't know how long 64-bit is going to be around, but you're talking about a decade-plus of innovation. But I've noticed more recently, that a lot of new companies, the Ciscos of the future, they're all embracing Opteron technology. I've been amazed at the number of startups that have contacted me in the last 90 days who've said, "I don't know if you knew this, but we are committed to your technology." So these are people, who, some of them, a portion of them are going to be introducing technology that will be very powerful. So in addition to the IBMs, we have these people who are really embracing it.

eWEEK: Athlon 64 is due next week. What can you tell us about what to expect?

RUIZ: The client side of the system is important. And we believe that the migration of 64-bit on the client side is going to grow faster than people think. And of course, having the infrastructure enabled backbones in companies will allow that to happen even faster. So we're very optimistic on the client side.


eWEEK: What hardware makers will be on stage when you roll it out next week?

RUIZ: We have a global launch. We're doing it at the same time in Japan, Europe, China and the U.S. But we're not talking about partners yet. But I think you'll be happy to see who's participating.


eWEEK: What surprises have you encountered since you launched Opteron last April? Not technically speaking.

RUIZ: Maybe a lot of surprise, with, it exceeded our expectation in the sense that the more people that looked at Opteron since April, the more people keep saying, "Wow, this is better than I thought."


eWEEK: What does Sun Microsystems Inc.'s announcement to support Opteron with Java mean for AMD, for Opteron?

RUIZ: Well it opens a broad base of support across a broad array of OEMs, not just the traditional server houses with people like Sun for example. And I expect that's going to grow.


eWEEK: Because of the Java support.

RUIZ: Not only that, but the opportunity for Opteron to perform well in a broad range of applications from high-performance computing to server to the high-level enterprises is pretty broad. So we expect to see that number of people grow.


eWEEK: Microsoft has plans to support Opteron in Windows Server 2003. Where does the work stand?

RUIZ: The Microsoft support has been outstanding. Microsoft has just been totally committed to helping this technology become a reality sooner rather than later. As a matter of fact a lot of their products they envisioned for their hardware side both for Opteron and Athlon 64 they've been looking at how to move them up and accelerate them.


eWEEK: Where does AMD come out on wireless and mobile?

RUIZ: Let me put it in perspective, because otherwise we'd be talking about apples and oranges here. Centrino is not a chip. Centrino is a marketing program to get people to sign up for Intel to provide the whole system. It's a, I would call it an average CPU. It has nothing that I would call redeeming features on the CPU. It's got a chip set made by some folks, and it's got some wireless technology made by other folks. And I think that what they've done together, which is by the way—Good job!...They put together this marketing program for Centrino that's pretty strong.


eWEEK: So as far as AMD building a package, a la, Centrino…

RUIZ: Not in the near term. We don't have plans in the near term.


eWEEK: Do you have customers asking for the technology?

RUIZ: You know, strangely enough, we don't have customers asking for it. Which says that they really like the money Intel is spending on it. Which is, you know, part of the game…Well we're doing reasonably well in the mobile side. I expect the last six months of this year are going to be very strong for us.


eWEEK: You have Athlon 64 coming up for desktops and laptops, National Semiconductor business for thin clients and displays, and the Alchemy embedded processor for PDAs, does that sum up the mobile effort right now.

RUIZ: Yes, except we will have an Athlon 64 Mobile.


eWEEK: And that will be part of next week's announcement?

RUIZ: We'll talk about the mobile next week.


eWEEK: Bruce Claflin is new to AMD's board of directors. Have you had much interaction with him? What's his influence been on the board so far?

RUIZ: Well, Bruce is an active CEO. It's very hard nowadays to get active CEOs on boards. So we're very happy to have somebody who actually has a job. And as a result of that, I spent quite a bit of time with Bruce before he joined the board, convincing him to join the board. He already attended one board meeting, so he already has one board meeting under his belt. But, I've got to tell you, the reason I wanted him on the board is he's very experienced. He came from an IBM/DEC environment. He faces a lot of the challenges that we do. 3Com's got to battle the giants, like Cisco and others…So I think he's going to be a great addition.


eWEEK: Did you know him from past experiences?

RUIZ: No. Jerry Sanders knew him and suggested that we consider him so I talked with him. We dialogued quite a bit, and finally we convinced him to join the board.


eWEEK: Going forward will you consult with him or will it be more in the confines of the board meetings.

RUIZ: No. Since he's very new. He just joined in the last 60 days. He's one of those people who I plan to spend a lot of time with.

RUIZ: You asked me about any surprises and I told you a very positive one. The other one that was somewhat surprising to me on the negative side was the level of intimidation that our competitors have gone through trying to keep customers from really engaging with us.


eWEEK: This is after the launch.

RUIZ: Yes.


eWEEK: You've been pretty open and honest about the response to your products from the competition. How's it been since April?

RUIZ: More brutally executed. I really think this is such a great product. It's a great transition for the industry. One of the reasons we participate in conferences like this is to try and get people to vote with their feet and their money and not be intimidated.