AMD Bobcat Chips Coming To Netbooks?

AMD has been battling Intel for years now. The company may not have the upper hand against Intel in most cases, but it does make powerful CPUs and has a decent following going. From time to time, the chip maker comes up with solutions that can hold up their own against Intel products. The company was first skeptic about the netbook market, but in the past few months we have seen the company enter the netbook and CULV markets. The company’s plan to bring more Fusion CPUs to the market shows the company’s dedication to stepping up its efforts in the netbook market. (more…)

AMD Athlon Netbooks Finally Out

For a couple of years, we have seen Intel dominate the netbook market with its ATOM processors. These processors are certainly very capable and the new models are speedy as well. But as a consumer, you always want to see companies compete with each other, so you can win. Intel has gone somewhat unchallenged in the netbook market, but ARM netbooks are on their way. And who can forget about the new AMD netbooks that are taking the market by storm. (more…)

Will We Ever See an AMD Netbook?

We have been hearing a lot about how AMD is not interested in the netbook market. The company actually has a smart plan. A lot of experts have talked about how netbooks are not for everyone, and the profit margins are not that great for laptop manufacturers. That’s why you can see a company such as Apple have such high profit margins, even though it’s not selling as many Macbooks as other companies are doing Windows laptops. If you remember, AMD counted itself out of the netbook market just a few months ago and instead stated its intention to dominate the CULV market. But things seem to have changed for AMD as it now tries to go head to head with Intel in this market segment as well. But it’s a bit hypocritical to talk about entering the market and then bashing it the very next day.

I think it’s fair to takeaway that price is driving the growth of the ultra-thin vs. the netbook segment, with those willing to pay for it getting more for their money in the form of an ultra-thin notebook, and those unwilling to getting a netbook’s more limited functionality instead.

It’d be interesting to see how AMD netbooks stack up with Intel ones in the future, but AMD is clearly too stretched to compete effectively in the netbook market. And the fact that the company doesn’t even seem dedicated enough to the cause means that it may have a better chance of succeeding in the CULV market than the netbook business. It’s good to have options when it comes to netbooks, but can an AMD netbook change the game? I doubt it.

AMD Netbooks Finally Coming?

AMD may not be as famous as Intel, but it can certainly make powerful CPUs. It has gone back and forth with Intel and has grabbed itself a decent market-share. But when it comes to netbooks, AMD has decided to stay away due to low profit margins. AMD simply doesn’t have the resources of Intel, which means it has to pick and choose which markets it enters to and how it positions its products more carefully. This could all change with Acer bringing its AMD netbook to the market. Gateway LT3103u netbook which uses AMD Athlon 64 L110 processor is the first AMD netbook, and it certainly won’t be the last.

Many experts are surprised by AMD CPUs being introduced to the netbook market, but AMD has the technology, and it was just the matter of time. Even though AMD argues that it is only interested in the upper end of netbook market, as long as AMD comes up with low voltage CPUs, there are going to be people interested in the technology. AMD doesn’t care where its CPUs are used. At least not at this point of time anyway. But if you are hoping for AMD to come up with a netbook-exclusive CPU, you are out of luck.

Netbooks are more about portability and energy efficiency than speed. Even ATOM N280 is not that fast of a CPU. But it’s not an energy hog, so you can get crazy long hours with your battery. I doubt people care too much about what’s used in their netbooks as long as they can rely on their device to produce and consume content for/on the Internet. Who knows. Depending on its success in the netbook market, AMD might change its approach to this market.

AMD To Pursue The Netbook Market?

With netbook, the primary purchase driver we believe is price, followed by mobility. With ultra-thin, we see the primary purchase driver being mobility followed by entertainment/visual experience.