AMD revenues grow

Long-standing Intel competitor, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), appears from its first quarter results to be gnawing at Chipzilla's ankles.

The Sunnyvale firm seems to be worrying investors in Intel (INTC) by showing better technology than the Santa Clara firm seems to offer.

We won't know for a little while what the takeup from vendors is likely to be, but early indications - which Fudzilla has reported for quite a while are that major vendors – like Dell and HP for example – are voting “yes” for AMD by being in the supply chain, commonly called in vendorspeak “the channel”.

Lisa Su, AMD's CEO, said that her firm's technology will marmelise Intel during 2018.

It is a question of margins, however.

Intel has a gross margin of nearly 64 percent on its products, while underdog AMD might manage 40 percent. But it is also a question of costs. Chipzilla has an enormous wage bill, while AMD – as always – has been a bit stingy, one might say careful, on every front.

That's quite a sea change in fortunes – or misfortunes, as Intel might describe it.

Intel seems to have made miss upon miss over the last 10 years or so - particularly on the mobile front - and has all the symptoms of a company retrenching from its formerly dominant position. It has reduced staff, which has had an effect on its technology, has cut its PR, which has had an effect on its coverage, and has made several missteps which has forced it into second or third place in terms of “innovation”.

Still, Fudzilla has not really heard from AMD what its mobile strategy is. Yet.