Take note of AMD launch
Firm to challenge Intel in the notebook arena
AMD is aiming to go head to head with Intel in the notebook arena in the coming months, according to the latest news from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2005 in Las Vegas.
The company has launched AMD Turion 64, a 64bit mobile processor that will go up against Intel's Centrino chipset. The chip is being designed for the thin-and-light segment of the notebook market, which demands low power consumption, size and weight.
Performance is often sacrificed for battery life in the ultra-portable notebook market, but AMD is hoping that Turion's 64bit capabilities will give it a competitive edge.
AMD has refused to release exact technical details of the processor, but it said notebooks featuring the new chip will appear in the first half of 2005.
"AMD Turion 64 mobile technology represents freedom and mobile performance," claimed Marty Seyer, general manager of the microprocessor business unit at AMD.
"We expect this new product family will set a precedent for mobile PCs in the same way that AMD Opteron did for servers. AMD will be the first to market with leading technologies, bringing a complete family of high-performance, 32- and 64bit processors made for mobility."
Shane Rau, senior analyst at IDC, said: "What's custom about today's PC technologies is not the technologies themselves but how they are arranged to meet the needs of specific usage models.
"Technology brands, such as the new AMD Turion 64, reflect how PC technology providers are adapting standardised technologies to meet the needs of consumer and commercial mobile PC users."
AMD is relying heavily on Turion 64 to improve its poor standing in the notebook sector. The company controls less than 10 per cent of the global notebook arena and has been losing ground fast in the European market.
AMD's share of this market fell to 10.7 per cent in May 2004, down from 16.7 per cent in January 2004, according to analyst Context.
In related news, Intel has been previewing Sonoma, its latest Centrino processor, at CES 2005. It claimed 150 notebooks from third parties will show off the chip when it launches in the next few weeks.
Sonoma will boost Centrino's front-side bus to 533MHz and add support for PCI Express, DDR 2 memory and Serial ATA. It will feature Intel's Media Graphics Acceleration and support for Hi-Def Audio.