Conclusions
In conclusion, this felt like a good launch. The logistics were well managed, the execs clear in their messaging and the partners apparently pleased with what AMD has achieved. This is certainly the processor AMD would have liked Barcelona to be and it looks like it compares pretty favourably to the current Intel offering.
The thing is, Intel hasn't been sitting around twiddling its thumbs since Barcelona and while AMD has been getting that right it has developed a whole new CPU platform of its own.If our assumption is correct and we don't see the Nehalem server offering until early next year, AMD has a couple of months to nip in there and steal some market share from Intel.
If the Nehalem server offering is of a very high standard then that may well trump AMD's lower investment cost argument as customers may think the return on investment over the lifetime of the server makes it worth the initial investment.
However, with the global economic bad news showing no sign of abating, if AMD can convince the market that there are significant cost savings to be made, in the short term at least, with little penalty to performance, then it may be just the thing money conscious businesses - especially in the SMB sector - are looking for.
How successful AMD has been won't really become evident until we see its revenues for the next couple of quarters. Only then will we have some idea if its ambition of owning 30 percent of the global CPU market is likely to be achieved.
