AMD Aims at 40% of Server Microprocessor Market by Late 2009

AMD Wants to Capture Higher Server Processor Market Share

Advanced Micro Devices, the world’s No. 2 maker of x86 central processing units, said at a news conference that it did not see any reasons why AMD could not achieve 40% market share in the server space by late 2009 and 30% of all chips by the same timeframe, according to media reports.

“There’s no reason why AMD can’t achieve 40% [server processor market share],” said commercial business vice president Marty Seyer when unveiling a research and development center in Shanghai, China.

In Q2 2006 AMD Opteron processors have grabbed 25.9% of server market, up from 22.1% in previous quarter, claim numbers released by Mercury Research. Shipments of the Opteron processors for 2-way servers grew 45% quarter-over-quarter, while AMD’s server microprocessor market share in terms of revenues was 33% of the total server market revenue.

On Tuesday AMD opened its Shanghai Research and Development Center (SRDC), a multi-million dollar research and development facility that will create next-generation AMD processor-powered platforms collaboratively with China-based partners of AMD. Initially, the SRDC’s engineering staff will focus on the development of AMD’s next-generation mobile platforms, but will also provide an important role in the validation and testing of AMD’s broad range of current and future microprocessors.

“This opening, which is the largest single expansion of system design and customer support resources in AMD’s history, represents both our deep commitment to China and to moving more of our center of gravity closer to customers and technology end-users,” said Dirk Meyer, president and chief operating officer of AMD. “The SRDC will dramatically improve our ability to help our customers create highly advanced, next-generation platform designs and help accelerate time to market.”

Located in the state-of-the-art Zhang Jiang technology complex, AMD plans to employ hundreds of staff at the newly constructed facility, making it AMD’s largest system design hub outside of the U.S. Shanghai has become one of the worldwide centers for PC system design excellence which made it the perfect choice for AMD’s latest center for platform innovation. The opening of SRDC will benefit key AMD Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) customers in the region including such as Lenovo, Tongfang, Flocity, HP, IBM, Sun, Acer, Asus, BenQ, Fujitsu and many others. With strong local government support, exceptional people and close proximity to customers and ecosystem partners, SRDC will help drive continued system-level innovation for AMD customers worldwide.