X-bit labs

AMD May Skyrocket Sales of 64-bit Processors.

Category: CPU

by Anton Shilov

[ 08/16/2004 | 11:56 PM ]

Taiwanese mainboard makers are reported to be confident in AMD’s plans to rapidly increase share of AMD64 processors in the shipments. Sources among mainboard producers said that sales of platforms for AMD’s latest series processors have been substantially increasing starting from July.

A report over Asian web-site DigiTimes claims that unit sales of Advanced Micro Devices’ Athlon 64 processors are expected to grow 50% sequentially in the second half of this year, which is inline with AMD’s expectations and is backed by mainboard makers.

On a separate note Goldman Sachs analysts Andrew Roots wrote last week that Sunnyvale, California-based AMD remained on track for reaching 50% of total microprocessor revenues on AMD64 by year-end, and crossing over in terms of units in Q2 2005.

Mainboard makers and chipset designers who produce products that support AMD’s 64-bit infrastructure should enjoy greater sales of their products intended for AMD market as a result of rising shipments.

However, it is not clear which AMD64 processors are going to be more widely available in terms of a quarter or two: AMD supplies desktop chips in PGA939 and PGA754 form-factors. While the former delivers higher power, the latter is more affordable to users. AMD, whose market share mainly depends on low-cost chips, according to Mercury Research, is seeking to have more expensive processors demanded by customers in order to improve its market share in terms of dollars.

Wider availability of AMD64 processors leads to higher reach of desktop 64-bit chips and increases the pressure on rival Intel Corp., who has not yet started to ship its 64-bit enabled products for desktops.