ADVANCED Micro Devices (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips will be used by Dell Technologies for the first time in personal computers (PCs) sold to businesses.
The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says will make AMD-based personal computers the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, according to AMD executives who are speaking on Monday (Jan 6) at the CES show in Las Vegas.
AMD, Intel and would-be rival Qualcomm are announcing new laptop and desktop parts at the show, arguing their respective technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads. The chipmakers, and the computer manufacturers, believe the market for PCs will be revived by the capability of the machines to run more tasks with AI.
Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs – it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices – is another blow for Intel as the company struggles to hang on to its eroding dominance over chips for PCs. Commercial and gaming PCs typically are more profitable areas of the market requiring higher-priced components.
During much of its 50-year rivalry with Intel, AMD’s products have been pigeonholed as low-cost, lower-performance options. AMD’s profitability and revenue also never matched Intel.
That’s now changed. Though Intel still has about 70 per cent market share and much higher revenue, sales have been declining and its margins have been wiped out by the cost of spending on new technology.
AMD said its new Ryzen AI Max series of processors will deliver the highest level of performance available in premium thin and light notebooks. The chips will run AI workloads as much as 90 per cent faster than their predecessors, it said.
Separately, AMD is bringing out new 9000 series desktop computer processors, which it said will extend the company’s leadership in that area. The 9900X3D is a chip with 16 processor cores that can run at a speed of as fast as 5.7 gigahertz, AMD said. BLOOMBERG
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