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If you've got even a passing interest in the subject, you're undoubtedly aware that true progress in general-purpose x86 multicore programming has been slow and uncertain. Intel and AMD may
have made the technology affordable—a quad-core system could easily have cost thousands of dollars just five years ago, compared to the low hundreds today—but software development has
lagged well behind the pace with which we've seen new multicore chips.
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Ever since AMD announced its plan to split itself into two separate companies, there have been legal questions surrounding the move. AMD's x86 cross-licensing agreement with Intel has always
required that Sunnyvale maintain a certain corporate structure in order to continue to manufacture x86-compatible microprocessors. When it unveiled its plans to spin off The Foundry Company
(now Globalfoundries), AMD confidently maintained that its plan avoided any licensing entanglements or issues Intel might seek to raise.
AMD has filed a form 8-K with the SEC, advising the agency of a cross-licensing dispute between itself and Intel. In discussions with Ars, however, AMD has also insisted that neither it nor Globalfoundries actually
requires the cross-licensing agreement in order to design or manufacture x86-compatible microprocessors. That's a surprising claim that runs against the general understanding of what the
AMD/Intel cross-licensing agreement allows or contains. Has Intel's ownership/stranglehold on the right to manufacture x86 processors been broadly misconstrued for years?
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Intel's netbook dominance has yet to be challenged in a serious way, but at least one business analyst thinks that's going to change in the next 2-3 years. The
netbook market is extremely new; Atom itself isn't even a year old—if the IT industry were to break with the existing Intel+Microsoft model, the emergence
of a new product type combined with a deep economic recession could be the perfect opportunity to do it.
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It's launched, online, and the now-independent Globalfoundries is searching for its non-AMD customers. CEO Doug Grose is reportedly visiting Taiwan to seek
relationships with companies that may be currently contracting with TSMC or UMC for their semiconductor foundry needs. If true, this would raise questions
regarding the future of AMD's relationship with TSMC. That company currently fabricates Radeon processors for Advanced Micro Devices, and while Globalfoundries
and AMD are now separate entities, they are separate entities that remain joined at the hip. Globalfoundries will probably take over fabbing ATI Radeon
processors at some point, but is not yet believed to have the bulk silicon production in place to do so.
DigiTimes cites the usual "industry sources" in reporting the rumor of Grose's imminent visit to Taiwan and further suggests that Globalfoundries receives (or
will receive) preferential treatment from IBM thanks to its membership in that company's foundry alliance. While it's true that ties between IBM and AMD go back
years, Chartered, Freescale, and Samsung are all part of the same IBM-led organization and would supposedly have access to the same technological
breakthroughts/benefits.
In the run-up to Globalfoundries launch, AMD portrayed the coming spinoff as one in which AMD would only initially be the new foundry's single customer. Grose's
trip to Taiwan, if true, would indicate that Globalfoundries is wasting no time when it comes to finding customers, but raises the question of whether or not the
new company's search could jepoardize AMD's existing relationships before Globalfoundries can take over its partner's full line of manufacturing needs.
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The semiconductor industry has been taking a sustained pounding for months, but there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. Taiwanese market analysts expect
TSMC and UMC to report even worse financial results for February than they have to date, but to improve thereafter. That's good news for both foundry companies;
sales figures have plummeted since August 2008.
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Earlier this week, we covered AMD's successful splitting of itself into two separate companies. We've now got the name of that second company, and it is—wait for it—
GLOBALFOUNDRIES. I guess a space, singular noun, and/or proper capitalization were just too old-fashioned for a hip, edgy, processor foundry. This is the first
and last time I'll be typing the name in all capital letters and I hope to God AMD didn't actually pay anyone to come up with this name. The newly named
Globalfoundries will be headed by Doug Grosse and AMD's chairman of the board and former CEO, Hector Ruiz.
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Asset Smart is finished. On Monday, March 2, AMD divested itself of certain manufacturing and corporate assets and formed those assets into a second company.
Henceforth, the Fabrication Facilities Formerly Known as AMD will be the property of the imaginatively named Foundry Company.
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Projections from industry groups and analysts can play a part, for good or ill, in forming self-fulfilling prophecies. But let's hope that doesn't happen with Gartner's latest projections for
the PC industry in 2009, which aren't just dim—they're terrible.
Gartner believes that the PC industry will collectively ship 257 million systems in 2009, down 11.9 percent from 2008. That's the worst drop in the market's history; it dwarfs the previous record of a 3.2 percent industry contraction in 2001. In that case, sales were hit by fallout from the dot-com bubble pop and customer uncertainty in the months following 9/11. Today, of course, the problem is a bit larger—when the leaders of the world's financial system are collectively trying to keep our global, economic Titanic from going under, folks get a little less interested in buying computers and a bit more interested in jobs, basic foodstuffs, and saving money.
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The EU-Intel antitrust throwdown continues, with Intel confirming that it had responded to the EU's SSO (Supplementary Statement of Objections) earlier this month on February 5. The
European Commission filed its SSO back in July of 2008, but Intel requested multiple extensions to the initial two-week reply deadline.
Last fall, the CPU manufacturer
requested that the Directorate General for Competition force AMD to reveal certain additional documents that Intel claimed would prove its innocence. After
several rounds of conversation, DG-COMP produced seven documents Intel was able to identify, but the company wanted more and filed suit with the Court of First
Instance requesting that it be given access to all of the documentation it deemed necessary.
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AMD's plan to split itself into a foundry and a design firm have continued apace through the financial upheaval of the past few months, even though the company
was forced to revalue some aspects of the deal due to its declining stock price. As of today, AMD announced that it has received final shareholder approval to
issue common stock and warrants to an affiliate of the Mubadala Development Company. All terms of the transaction have now been met; the deal will close (and The
Foundry Company will launch) on or before March 2, 2009.
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The past week saw a number of launches and updates from both Intel and AMD. We covered the debut of the Atom N280 (with accompanying chipset), Intel's upcoming Nehalem-based octal-core Xeon, AMD's new series of Phenom II X3 and X4 processors, and other various developments in the industry. It's all about the chips, baby—if you missed some news, drop in and have a look. Click here to read the rest of this article Read More...
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After weeks of nothing but bad news from the semiconductor market, Intel's investment announcement and roadmap updates on Tuesday were a
welcome blast of fresh air. Company executives acknowledged the state of the economy, but took the opportunity to
affirm the manufacturer's commitment to investment and innovation over the long term. In this case, Intel wasn't just talking—the company plans to
accelerate the ramp of its 32nm process, bringing it to market more rapidly than originally anticipated. Roadmap goodness awaits.
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The global DRAM industry, battered in early 2008, was positively crushed during the fourth quarter, industry analysis group iSuppli announced today. They expect the DRAM industry's woes to extend through all of 2009, which is projected to see a 15% drop in revenue due to falling prices and flat demand with ever-escalating supply.
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You may recall Intel's unveiling of its next-generation, quad-core Itanium chip at last year's ISSCC, where I asked in our coverage: "What rhymes with 'Godzilla,' weighs 2 billion transistors, and has enough on-die cache to take out Tokyo?" Tukwila, as the part is codenamed, is a seriously big chip, especially on the 65nm process on which it will debut. Check out the chart above for wattage numbers for the 21.5x32.5mm2 part.
Tukwila was supposed to be out before the end of the year, and now it's being pushed back even further due to validation issues. But the validation delay is related not to the chip, but to the Itanium platform, and in particular to enhancements that will enable the platform to host much more DDR3 memory than it otherwise could.
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