About this time last year, everything started to go wrong for the chip maker Advanced Micro Devices.
Its server processor code-named Barcelona, which was meant to stave off competition from a revitalized Intel, arrived late. Even worse, a bug forced A.M.D. to hold the product back from widespread use and fix it. That meant that server makers depending on the product had to push back shipment dates for their best-selling gear.
When all was said and done, A.M.D. had given up the market share gains it spent years wrestling away from Intel. In July, A.M.D. replaced Hector Ruiz, its embattled chief executive, and promoted its president, Dirk Meyer, to the top job.
Now it has a second chance. A.M.D. hopes to regain a competitive edge later this year with the release of a new server chip code-named Shanghai and sold under the Opteron brand. The big message with this product is that it won’t be a dud.
“Shanghai is not another Barcelona,” said Pat Patla, the general manager of A.M.D.’s server business. “That’s the bumper sticker around here.”
In January, A.M.D. brought all of its major product teams together “to try and learn from all the Barcelona lessons,” Mr. Patla said. The company agreed to take more time in some areas like product testing and to re-evaluate its methods for shifting processors from the sample state to full production.
“After going through Barcelona, we knew we never wanted to do that again,” Mr. Patla said.
In addition, A.M.D. has tried to pull back on early marketing for new products, which is a welcome change. It spent months talking up the merits of Barcelona before actually shipping the processor, which prompted a huge letdown as months passed by without the chip’s arrival and then disappointment when the product failed to live up to expectations.
A.M.D. expects Shanghai to be faster than Barcelona. And it expects plenty of the chips to be available for server makers like Hewlett-Packard, Dell, I.B.M. and Sun Microsystems.
As A.M.D. was working to get its house in order, Intel has been pushing hard with new microprocessor technology. Just as Shanghai comes to market, Intel is set to release a brand new line of server products that have revamped innards.
Even with this competitive threat looming, A.M.D. asserts that Shanghai will revitalize its place in the server chip market.
“We will win back customers with Shanghai,” Mr. Patla said. “It has really healed the wounds with many of our partners.”
Now, A.M.D. just needs to ship the product on time – as promised.
10 Comments
it’s just gonna be another bust.
— aguyWhy name the chip Barcelona and Shanghai? why not name it NY, LA or SF???
— AllenSorry Charlie, but Intel has taken the lead and is not going to let AMD regain any share without a fight.
— Too lateA.M.D should focus on the fusion cpu.
— charlesIf named Shanghai, the chips out to be cheap as well. Hope there are no recalls.
— AjayI don’t know a ton about computers, but if AMD would make the frequencies of their processors compete with Intels they would do better in the market. Their bus speeds sure do beat Intels if you want to buy higher end RAM and whatnot. Just my thought.
— Robert Curley JacobsWith China’s tainted milk and many other poisonous things in mind, Shanghai will never take off.
— CSLAMD should also put some resources on trying to fix some of the bugs that both XP and Vista have with PCs using AMD chips, instead of relying on M$ to fix the problem.
— NedAMD lost a lot of credibilty with Barcelona. With previous CEO they made a lot of marketing before even having a product and when the product was reday it was buggy. This talks poorly about this company, the testing enginering and quality control in AMD. How in a year time AMD can fix these problems? It take longer than that. These folks should learn to shut up, talk less and focus on delivering better and competitive products. Let data show if the product is better. I doubt it
— ChonitoAs the song says: –” It’s a Barnum & Bailey world/Just as phony as it could be/But it wouldn’t be make believe/If you believed in me..” (Arlen/Harburg)
— C. Alexander Brown,Rockcliffe Park, CanadaDoes sentiment belong in business? I love AMD. I Believe in AMD. It has kept Intel semi-honest. Why “semi?” Just read up on what Intel did to Intergraph (someone should write a book)..
I hope Shanghai will be a sterling success.