Reports circulating the internet suggest that AMD has advised motherboard manufacturers of plans to cancel the release of its 65nm dual-core Phenom processor, code-named Kuma and based on AMD's K10 microarchitecture.
Difficulties in increasing clock speeds are believed to be the primary cause for AMD's decision. The 65nm dual-core "Kuma" Phenom was originally scheduled for desktop release in May, but AMD is now expected to let its age-old Athlon X2 continue to fill the void.
AMD's tri-core and quad-core Phenom processors haven't provided much of a threat to Intel's dominant Core 2 line-up, and the Sunnyvale-based semiconductor manufacturer looks set to continue to struggle. With below-par performance, AMD's agressive pricing on its X3 and X4 parts has left little room for a dual-core Phenom alternative.
AMD's 45nm process, however, appears to remain on schedule. We can, therefore, still expect to see the much-needed 45nm quad-core Deneb, tri-core Heka and dual-core Regor processors in late 2008 or early 2009.
