Considering the production issues at GloFo and TSMC AMD didn't fair too badly in Q4 but they obviously need to improve and can improve even in a down economy. Delivering Trinity laptop and Vishera would go a long ways towards helps fill AMD's coffers.
Don't think for a minute that Intel doesn't have production and design issues of their own. One little mistake this past quarter cost them $700 million.
That cost Intel less that 2% of their gross earnings for the year..... Pocket change for them. AMD cannot afford ANY misses. Intel made ~ $147 million A DAY last year gross...
Considering AMD made a half Billion dollars net with all of GloFo and TSMC's production issues and a $209 Million write-off for GloFo, I think AMD will be just fine with Trinity ready to launch and Vishera in Q3-4. Opterons are also selling well so it's looking much better for AMD now than a few months ago when both Fabs were struggling.
Yeah Intel didn't skip a beat, which is pretty amazing. They still posted record profits for that quarter in the height of the recession just after the housing market/Wall Street collapse. And it certainly didn't leave any negative lasting impression on their products, as Sandy Bridge/P67 has been a huge success (leading to more record profits).
I don't think Intel is infallible though, but I also don't think their main concern and source of competition is AMD. Intel is ~2 generations ahead of AMD now in the performance desktop market, it will be 3 generations ahead once Ivy Bridge launches. I think the bigger risk for Intel is going to come from ARM-based chips and devices, especially once Win8 hits with full ARM support sometime next year.
$492M of their net income was the result of a non-cash accounting basis change in Q1'11, further diluting their interest in GloFo. Take that out of the equation and they lost $1M on the year.
GloFo has been serving as their bank the last few years though, and since they're down to 8.8% holding (and still taking impairments on that as well), its pretty obvious that Oasis has all but run dry (pun intended). On top of that, there's reports AMD has but back production at GloFo due to problems and shifted production to TSMC, probably at a higher cost.
In the big picture, the scariest part of it all is after 5-6 years of all this restructuring, AMD is still barely afloat and has much less to show for their efforts. They originally purchased ATI in 2006 for $6B? And the market cap of the combined firm today is <$5B after taking impairment after impairment to correct their overvaluation. Same with GloFo, big cash infusion when they needed it by splitting off their fabs, but at the time they were still majority shareholder, and now that line of credit and value has been widdled down to nothing.
Maybe their APU line will save them, maybe not, but I don't think its looking too good for AMD if they're not able to compete with ARM-based chips or even Intel's Medfield in the burgeoning tablet/smartphone market. I don't recall anything from CES about AMD's design wins there, mostly about APUs in the Ultra"thin" and desktop market.
I distinctly remember AMD saying that they weren't affected, and that the shortages didn't really exist. Seems they decided that, after a month or so and after looking at the full Q4 figures, there was some affect after all.
It's pretty laughable really. Intel has tried every illegal action possible to kill AMD and was unsuccessful and is still in litigation over their crimes. AMD has been profitable the last two years after eliminating the huge debt from GloFo. Had GloFo and TSMC even delivered decent volumes in 2011 AMD would have had a very profitable year. In 2012 they must try to ramp as the world wide economic situation continues to deteriorate.
If only AMD could have illegally acquired their installed base as Intel did, the story would be quite different. Instead AMD has delivered better quality and value products. Consumers voting with their wallet have kept AMD in Biz for 40+ years as a result and I don't see anything but good news for AMD and consumers in the forseeable future despite the Fab issues.
I personally am waiting to purchase a Trinity powered laptop and Vishera CPU. Pigs will fly before a convicted criminal corp. like Intel ever get another dime of my money.
All I can do is agree with what you are saying. Been a AMD user for years to, good value for money cpu:s. Always done everything I needed them to do and more. Even using the AMD FX (Bulldozer) which everyone say is so bad and loving it. Compared my FX-8120 with friends i5 2500k and seen no real difference in preformance.
It will be really interesting to see what AMD has to say next week at their Financial Analyst Day 2012. I surely hope they prove people wrong, despite all the rumors flying around now they are leaving the desktop market.
I've been purchasing mostly AMD desktop parts (where applicable) since 2002, and I will continue to do so in the near future, I was even thinking of going AMD-only mobile parts last year, but since I saw no <5 pounds, ~13" Llano laptop (+decent display) released, that's not exactly possible.
I'll be waiting for a Trinity ultrabook to replace my MBP.
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Beenthere - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
Considering the production issues at GloFo and TSMC AMD didn't fair too badly in Q4 but they obviously need to improve and can improve even in a down economy. Delivering Trinity laptop and Vishera would go a long ways towards helps fill AMD's coffers.BSMonitor - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
Maybe they should send their designs to Intel and have them Fab their chips.Beenthere - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
Don't think for a minute that Intel doesn't have production and design issues of their own. One little mistake this past quarter cost them $700 million.Impulses - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
That P65 recall was a black eye for sure.RedMustang - Thursday, January 26, 2012 - link
That cost Intel less that 2% of their gross earnings for the year..... Pocket change for them. AMD cannot afford ANY misses. Intel made ~ $147 million A DAY last year gross...Beenthere - Thursday, January 26, 2012 - link
Considering AMD made a half Billion dollars net with all of GloFo and TSMC's production issues and a $209 Million write-off for GloFo, I think AMD will be just fine with Trinity ready to launch and Vishera in Q3-4. Opterons are also selling well so it's looking much better for AMD now than a few months ago when both Fabs were struggling.chizow - Thursday, January 26, 2012 - link
Yeah Intel didn't skip a beat, which is pretty amazing. They still posted record profits for that quarter in the height of the recession just after the housing market/Wall Street collapse. And it certainly didn't leave any negative lasting impression on their products, as Sandy Bridge/P67 has been a huge success (leading to more record profits).I don't think Intel is infallible though, but I also don't think their main concern and source of competition is AMD. Intel is ~2 generations ahead of AMD now in the performance desktop market, it will be 3 generations ahead once Ivy Bridge launches. I think the bigger risk for Intel is going to come from ARM-based chips and devices, especially once Win8 hits with full ARM support sometime next year.
chizow - Thursday, January 26, 2012 - link
$492M of their net income was the result of a non-cash accounting basis change in Q1'11, further diluting their interest in GloFo. Take that out of the equation and they lost $1M on the year.GloFo has been serving as their bank the last few years though, and since they're down to 8.8% holding (and still taking impairments on that as well), its pretty obvious that Oasis has all but run dry (pun intended). On top of that, there's reports AMD has but back production at GloFo due to problems and shifted production to TSMC, probably at a higher cost.
In the big picture, the scariest part of it all is after 5-6 years of all this restructuring, AMD is still barely afloat and has much less to show for their efforts. They originally purchased ATI in 2006 for $6B? And the market cap of the combined firm today is <$5B after taking impairment after impairment to correct their overvaluation. Same with GloFo, big cash infusion when they needed it by splitting off their fabs, but at the time they were still majority shareholder, and now that line of credit and value has been widdled down to nothing.
Maybe their APU line will save them, maybe not, but I don't think its looking too good for AMD if they're not able to compete with ARM-based chips or even Intel's Medfield in the burgeoning tablet/smartphone market. I don't recall anything from CES about AMD's design wins there, mostly about APUs in the Ultra"thin" and desktop market.
silverblue - Friday, January 27, 2012 - link
I distinctly remember AMD saying that they weren't affected, and that the shortages didn't really exist. Seems they decided that, after a month or so and after looking at the full Q4 figures, there was some affect after all.Before:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-rory-read-har...
After:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Thai-floods-hard-...
Beenthere - Friday, January 27, 2012 - link
It's pretty laughable really. Intel has tried every illegal action possible to kill AMD and was unsuccessful and is still in litigation over their crimes. AMD has been profitable the last two years after eliminating the huge debt from GloFo. Had GloFo and TSMC even delivered decent volumes in 2011 AMD would have had a very profitable year. In 2012 they must try to ramp as the world wide economic situation continues to deteriorate.If only AMD could have illegally acquired their installed base as Intel did, the story would be quite different. Instead AMD has delivered better quality and value products. Consumers voting with their wallet have kept AMD in Biz for 40+ years as a result and I don't see anything but good news for AMD and consumers in the forseeable future despite the Fab issues.
I personally am waiting to purchase a Trinity powered laptop and Vishera CPU. Pigs will fly before a convicted criminal corp. like Intel ever get another dime of my money.
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2120866/i...
Eltarion - Friday, January 27, 2012 - link
All I can do is agree with what you are saying. Been a AMD user for years to, good value for money cpu:s. Always done everything I needed them to do and more. Even using the AMD FX (Bulldozer) which everyone say is so bad and loving it. Compared my FX-8120 with friends i5 2500k and seen no real difference in preformance.It will be really interesting to see what AMD has to say next week at their Financial Analyst Day 2012. I surely hope they prove people wrong, despite all the rumors flying around now they are leaving the desktop market.
JonnyDough - Saturday, January 28, 2012 - link
You may listen to the investor relations earnings conference call for 10 days. From the AMD website, investor relations page:http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/g5htq4wb/lan/en
Malih - Sunday, January 29, 2012 - link
to hear what Rory Read will announce next week.I've been purchasing mostly AMD desktop parts (where applicable) since 2002, and I will continue to do so in the near future, I was even thinking of going AMD-only mobile parts last year, but since I saw no <5 pounds, ~13" Llano laptop (+decent display) released, that's not exactly possible.
I'll be waiting for a Trinity ultrabook to replace my MBP.