Conclusion
Let's be brutally honest here: if Intel wanted to drive AMD out of business it could do so just by cutting CPU prices for as long as it took. However this would leave Intel with an almost complete monopoly and would make the kind of anti-monopoly attention Microsoft has received - let alone its current struggles with the European Commission - pale into insignificance.
So comparing AMD's fortunes to Intel's, in an absolute sense, has limited value. What is vital is how AMD is going about taking some market share from its giant rival. AMD is never going to come close to Intel's spend on R&D and marketing, and it's hard to see how AMD can prevail in a straight fight, so it has to be smart about how it uses what resources it has.
With asset smart finally culminating and 2008 marking a distinct improvement in product execution, AMD is definitely in better fighting shape than this time last year. However, AMD is still consigned to a fate of having to fight on many fronts with fewer resources.
HEXUS's expertise leads us to assert that, in terms of its overall proposition to the market, AMD still can't see the wood for the trees. I would love to see AMD focus all its resources on far fewer fights. I would then like to see AMD follow through and fully exploit the new opportunities and advantages this approach would bring.
The people we met in Austin live for that kind of challenge and it would put a real spring in their step to have such a clearly defined objective. AMD is coming towards the end of the period of transition that started with the ATI acquisition. Its remaining employees need something to believe in. For the sake of competition and innovation in the PC industry, let's hope they get it.
