Intel Set to Go Another Round With AMD

The summer is heating up for Intel as it prepares to propel three new products into the market in upcoming weeks.

Intel's latest offerings include the Core 2 Duo chip for desktopPCs, Montecito chip for high-end servers and Merom chip for mobilenotebooks. Shipment of the processors has already begun, and Intel ispreparing to release several other chips, Bill Kircos, communicationsmanager for Intel, told TechNewsWorld.

"There's a lot of excitement about how stunning the performance ison these chips. It's about us putting out a revolutionary type ofprocessor. It's a winner," Kircos said, noting several positive techreviews. "This is a really big launch because a whole new crop of PCsand laptops will be hitting the stores with these processors in timefor back to school and before the holidays."

The menu is one that analysts say will keep Advanced Micro Devices alert on the battlefield.

Intel has sustained an innovative advantage in the mobile market,though AMD has flexed its muscles in the desktop and server chip areas,according to Jim McGregor, principal analyst at In-Stat. Now, Intel ismaking a push there, he told TechNewsWorld. "Desktop servers and the PCmarket is the new battleground. It's going to be a very competitivelandscape for at least the next year."

For Intel, the multiple product launches seem like a significantshift from desktops to mobile technology. "Eventually, AMD is going tohave to come up with a new architecture to go from the ground up,"McGregor said, noting that the company told analysts at a recentconference that a new mobile architecture would be in production in2007 but would not provide further details.

AMD is developing a new platform for the "PC enthusiast" market,according to Mike Field, desktop division market manager for AMD. "It'sa decidedly multicore processor, multithreaded application technologyfor the PC industry, and AMD believes it will have the best solutionsfor the market in 2006," he told TechNewsWorld.

The company also is "planning an aggressive desktop price movement," Field noted. News source: TechNewsWorld