Computer microprocessor manufacturer AMD has decided to stop focusing its attention on the PC market and move resources to the mobile world. Softpedia reports that the Bulldozer mishap may very well have persuaded management that their future in the PC business was soon drawing to an end.
The AMD FX microprocessor often performed worse than the older generation of Phenom 2s, and shortly after release AMD announced an executive restructuring as well as the retrenching of approximately 10 % of their workforce. The poor performance combined with delay upon delay drove many people to Intel, and makes Bulldozer one of the biggest mistakes made by AMD.
With a very small resource pool, AMD cannot afford to pour money into a dead-end architecture and wish to focus more on evolving its Fusion platform to the tablet and smartphone markets.
“We’re at an inflection point,” said AMD spokesman Mike Silverman, according to a Mercury News report. “We will all need to let go of the old ‘AMD versus Intel’ mindset, because it won’t be about that anymore.”
Unfortunately, AMD isn’t moving to an open playing field. The mobile market is already fairly saturated with ARM processors, and Nvidia has just released its Kal-El Tegra 3 chip. AMD would also be cutting off what remains of their desktop user-base, so whether they plan to completely pull out of the higher-end desktop market or simply move resources around remains to be seen. Jonathan Horne
<3 amd
