AMD Unveils Multiple Mobile Chips

May 9th, 2007

Advanced Micro Devices has added new processors to two different segments of its mobile processor family.

AMD sells three types of mobile processors with different voltage ratings for various types of notebooks. The chipmaker on Tuesday added the mobile AMD Athlon XP-M 2800+ to its desktop-replacement category, and introduced two new processors, the low-voltage mobile AMD Athlon XP-M 2000+ and 1900+, for thin-and-light notebooks.

A separate category for what AMD calls “standard” notebooks is also part of the company’s mobile processor lineup. AMD unveiled the three tiers of mobile processors at CeBIT in March.

Intel recently announced a new category of its notebook processors, introducing the mobile Intel Pentium 4 processor for heavy desktop-replacement notebooks. Intel now offers the Pentium M, the Mobile Intel Pentium 4-M, and the Mobile Intel Pentium 4 for notebooks, as well as the Mobile Intel Pentium III-M and the Mobile Celeron processors.

The consumer demand for desktop-replacement notebooks has been a bright spot in an otherwise stagnant PC market, says Alan Promisel, an IDC analyst. Typically, the PC market declines about 10 percent from the fourth quarter of the year to the first quarter of the next year, he says. Desktop PCs were down about that much, but notebooks defied the seasonal trends with no sequential decline in demand, Promisel adds.

Notebooks are winning over consumers due to improved mobile technology and aggressive pricing by vendors, who generate higher margins on notebooks than desktops, Promisel says.

Time Computers plans to offer a desktop replacement notebook with the mobile AMD Athlon XP-M 2800+ as of Tuesday. Also, Fujitsu PC will release a LifeBook S2000 notebook with the low-voltage mobile AMD Athlon XP-M 1900+, according to AMD.

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