"Every year there's something new, some shiny new thing that captures the attention of everybody. Sometimes it takes hold, sometimes it doesn't. If you remember last year, it was all about UMPCs. I don't about you but I haven't seen a ton of UMPCs out there in the marketplace, really selling in volume. This year, there's been a ton of discussions about netbooks. It's a potential market. AMD is taking a wait and see attitude on it", says Moorhead.
"I actually have 4 netbooks that I use to understand the experience... So I went out and saw what I can buy for $499. And I can buy a netbook with a smaller size screen and without a hard drive or I can buy a 15.4" full size notebook, dual-core processor, 160 GB hard drive and Windows Vista. And as long as people understand the trade-offs things will be okay. But my guess is based on the fact that these netbooks are raising in price - if you remember that started off at $299 and you can actually find some models that are actually $599 - ... people are going to look and see what they can buy for $599".
And finally he's asked about the Geode..."You would expect 8 or 9 hours out of a netbook because it's small - maybe you'll compare it to a cell phone. In fact, for some of the ones that I've tested, probably the hottest one has an 1h45 of battery life. You're not going to take that with you as a road warrior... Around the house it seems okay".
So basically AMD admits that it has no strategy and no plan for competing with Intel's Atom. It can't figure out a way to play in a netbook market, or doesn't want to. Intel's not thrilled about the emergence of netbooks either, but unlike AMD, they are not sticking their thumbs in their ears and covering their eyes with their hands while shouting "nahnah, nahnah, I can't hear you, I cant see you", just hoping and praying that this bad dream of even lower profit margins goes away."We still have design wins. We're still serving that customer set. But right now, at least at this show we are talking about the larger markets... full-size notebooks". Too bad really. Hope someone is working on reviving that chip and not let Intel alone in that market.
Watch the video. It's really quite an amazing example of corporate denial.
