Posted on Friday 28th of July 2006 at 01:46 in The Internet

Has AMD played into Intel's hands?

Recently AMD bought out graphics giant ATi for a sum in the region of $5.5bn, which initially looks like a good move. However, is it possible that AMD has just played into the hands of Intel - who have now forced AMD to slash prices on their dual core chips.

On one hand, AMD surely wouldn't drop prices to levels they couldn't afford could they? Unless... Intel budgeted for these price drops since day 1 of the dual-core-war and was able to forecast this into their financial plans. AMD on the other hand, fresh from emptying the petty-cash tin, are maybe lowering prices beyond what their financial plan expected. This could spell trouble for AMD, who, seem to have purchased ATi to use as a sword against the oncoming Conroe monster.

It looks like Intel may restore their position at the top of the CPU pile, with the Conroe looking especially dangerous. AMD on the other hand need to pull something out of the bag, using a new architecture - there's only so many more mhz you can pull out of the fx62 before it generates more heat than the sun itself.

Change is coming it seems, and only time will tell what effect the ATi purchase will have on the processor market - if Intel keep their prices lower than AMD, it's only so long before fanboys start changing sides, and then there could be some trouble. For those of you who are entirely neutral, sit back and watch the potential damage to your bank account decrease as prices slip.

 

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