AMD

Advance Micro Device(AMD)

   i)         Photo of Entrepreneur

SANDERS Jeremy (Walter Jeremiah SANDERS III)

                                 ( Former Executive Director and founder of AMD)

Contributions :

• Help establish AMD(Advance Micro Device) on May 1, 1969
• Former CEO of AMD.
• Helped start Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957.

   ii)         Picture of Product/s

                                                    

 

               

iii) Brief description of the products/services/business concepts.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) or AMD is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Sunnyvale, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for commercial and consumer markets. Its main products include microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors and graphics processors for servers, workstations and personal computers, and embedded systems applications.

AMD is the second-largest global supplier of microprocessors based on the x86 Architecture and also one of the largest suppliers of graphics processing units. It also owns 8.6% of Spansion, a supplier of non-volatile flash memory. In 2009, AMD ranked 9th among semiconductor manufacturers in terms of revenue

          AMD is the closest competitor of the well known microprocessor Intel and had vast technological advancement in making the microprocessor. AMD is not only focusing on computer’s processor but also to mobile computing. Most of the main successive role for AMD is that in producing microprocessor and IT products. As a top company in the Semiconductors and Electronic Components industry, Advanced Micro Devices specialize in developing computer processors and related technologies for servers, workstations and personal computers. Its products include microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors and graphics processors.AMD always go beyond for the latest product advancement and ensure that its product competitive and could challenge other’s market microprocessor manufacturers.

AMD Products

 

·     Microprocessor: Essentially the brain of a computer, these product are found in all personal computers. AMD produces both single- and dual-core processors, which run both 32- and 64-bit computing.

·     Servers and Workstations: The single- and dual-core Opteron processors are AMD's server and  workstation microprocessing units, similar to their standard microprocessor cousins but made for larger computing projects including business processing (supply chain management, for instance), engineering and web servers.

.      Embedded Products: These are processors that are designed for devices in non-PC/computer  markets. These products are made to meet particular consumer needs that may be outside the        scope of PC processor units, like significantly smaller size, higher mobility, or tolerance of harsh   environments.

·      Graphic & Chipset Products: These enhance a computer's graphics capabilities, and can be  either stand-alone graphic cards or chipsets that are integrated into motherboards. These products are used in systems designed for gaming or high-level graphic display.

·      Memory Products: Until its IPO in October 2006, Spansion was a subsidiary of AMD that     produced and sold flash memory products. Since its sale, AMD has discontinued its production and sale of flash memory products.

·      Consumer Electronics: This segment includes processors for gaming consoles, digital televisions and handheld devices. These processors are specialized to fit the needs of a given product line. AMD's processors can be found in Microsoft's Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo GameCube gaming consoles.

·      Computers: AMD has announced their first computer brand named AMD Business Class. The company would develop and design these machines in collaboration with partners like Dell.  These desktops would be followed by a range of new laptop products likely to be sold by companies like Acer, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, Hewlett Packard and Lenovo. AMD will be targeted at the small- and medium-size business market, but would also meet the demands of the biggest corporate clients as well.

   iv)     A profile of the Entrepreneur and the business.

• Walter Jeremiah Sanders III (born September 12, 1936) 
• Co-founder and a long-time CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
• Attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on an academic scholarship from the   Pullman railroad car company. He graduated with his bachelor's degree in engineering in 1958.
• Moved to Motorola, then to Fairchild Semiconductor.
• In 1968 Sherman Fairchild brought a new management team into Fairchild Semiconductor, led by C. Lester Hogan, then vice president of Motorola Semiconductor. The troops from Motorola, also known as "Hogan's Heroes", were notoriously conservative, and immediately clashed with Sanders' boisterous style. He was one of the architects of Silicon Valley.
• In 1969 a group of Fairchild engineers decided to start a new company, which became Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Sanders became President             
• Sanders took his trademark style into his position as the CEO of AMD. He remained the company's consummate salesperson, always available to come in on the really tough negotiations and close them. At the end of the company's first $1 million quarter, Sanders stood by the door of the company and handed a $100 bill to every employee as they left. Every employee at the company got stock options, a huge innovation at the time.
• In 1982, Sanders responsible for a licensing deal with Intel that made AMD a second source to IBM for the Intel Microprocessor series, a deal that eventually made the company the only real competitor to Intel.
• In 2000, Sanders recruited Hector Ruiz, at the time the president of Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector, to serve as AMD's president and chief operating officer, and to become heir apparent to lead the company upon Sanders' retirement. Ruiz succeeded Sanders in the CEO's seat in 2002.              

v)         A brief introduction of how the business started.

AMD headquarters in Sunnyvale, California

 

               Advanced Micro Devices was founded on May 1, 1969, by a group of former executives from Fairchild Semiconductor, including Jerry Sanders III, Ed Turney, John Carey, Sven Simonsen, Jack Gifford and three members from Gifford's team, Frank Botte, Jim Giles, and Larry Stenger. The company began as a producer of logic chips, then entered the RAM chip business in 1975. That same year, it introduced a reverse-engineered clone of the Intel 8080 microprocessor. During this period,AMD also designed and produced a series of bit-slice processor elements (Am2900, Am29116,Am293xx) which were used in various minicomputer designs.

               During this time, AMD attempted to embrace the perceived shift towards RISC with their own AMD 29K processor, and also attempted to diversify into graphics and audio devices as well as EPROM memory. It had some success in the mid-1980s with the AMD7910 and AMD7911 "World Chip" FSK modem, one of the first multistandard devices that covered both Bell and CCITT tones at up to 1200 baud half duplex or 300/300 full duplex. The AMD 29K survived as an embedded processor and AMD spinoff Spansion continues to make industry leading flash memory. AMD decided to switch gears and concentrate solely on Intel-compatible microprocessors and flash memory, placing them in direct competition with Intel for x86 compatible processors and their flash memory secondary markets.

               AMD announced the acquisition of ATI Technologies on July 24, 2006. AMD paid $4.3 billion in cash and 58 million shares of its stock for a total of US$5.4 billion. The transaction completed on October 25, 2006.

It was reported in December 2006 that AMD, along with its main rival in the graphics industry Nvidia, received subpoenas from the Justice Department regarding possible antitrust violations in the graphics card industry, including the act of fixing prices. In October 2008, AMD announced plans to spin off manufacturing operations in the form of a multibillion-dollar joint venture with Advanced Technology Investment Co., an investment company formed by the government of Abu Dhabi. The new venture is called GlobalFoundries Inc. . This partnership will allow AMD to focus solely on chip design. In August 2011, AMD announced that former Lenovo executive Rory Read would be joining the company as CEO.

               On November 3, 2011 AMD said it was going to lay off 1,400 employees or about 10 percent of current worldwide staff. The curtailment will be finalized at Q1 2012 and mainly before Christmas 2011. It will cut operational saving by $10 million in Q4 2011 and more than $200 million in 2012.

 

vi)    How the business gain success 

Success Factors for AMD

     In the near term, AMD believe that the critical success factors for AMD include company’s ability to: 

• continue to increase market acceptance of our AMD64 technology, particularly among enterprises;
• successfully introduce our next generation products to the market in a timely manner;
• strengthen our relationships with key customers and establish relationships with new customers that are industry leaders in their markets;
• successfully develop and continue to transition to the latest manufacturing process technologies for the microprocessor and Flash memory products; 
• develop and introduce new microprocessor products for the PC, mobile, server and workstation  markets, on a timely basis and achieve efficient and timely volume production of these products
• control costs;
• increase the adoption of products incorporating MirrorBit technology and expand its participation in high-growth global markets, including China, Latin America, India and Eastern Europe.

vii)   The ups & downs of the entrepreneur & his/her business.

Defining the Future: 1974--79

AMD's second five years gave the world a taste of the company's most enduring trait, tenaciousness. Despite a dogged recession in 1974-75, when sales briefly slipped, the company grew during this period to $168 million, representing an average annual compound growth rate of over 60 percent. Part of the success of the period was due to the implementation of a 44-hour work week for the company's staff. This was also a period of tremendous facilities expansion.

In 1975 the company received an infusion of cash ($30 million for 20 percent of its stock) from Siemens AG, a huge West German firm who wanted a foothold in the U.S. semiconductor market. In 1976 the company signed a cross-license agreement with Intel. Two years later the company formed a joint venture, called Advanced Micro Computers (AMC), with facilities in both Germany and the United States, to develop, produce, and market microcomputer products. The venture was dissolved a year later, in March 1979, and the company purchased the net assets of the domestic operations of AMC. Also in 1978, the company reached a major sales milestone of $100 million in annual revenue. In 1979 the company's shares were listed on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time under the ticker AMD; that same year, production began at AMD's newly constructed Austin, Texas facility.

Finding Preeminence: 1980--83

The early 1980s were defined for AMD by two now famous corporate symbols. The first, called the "Age of Asparagus," represented the company's drive to increase the number of proprietary products offered to the marketplace. Like this lucrative crop, proprietary products take time to cultivate, but eventually bring excellent returns on the initial investment. The second symbol was a giant ocean wave.

The "Catch the Wave" recruiting advertisements portrayed the company as an unstoppable force in the integrated circuit business. And unstoppable it was, at least for a time. AMD became a leader in R&D investment and by the end of fiscal 1981 the company had more than doubled its sales over 1979.

Plants and facilities expanded with an emphasis on building in Texas. New production facilities were built in San Antonio, and more fab space was added to the Austin plant as well. AMD had quickly become a major contender in the world semiconductor marketplace. In 1981, AMD's chips went into space aboard the space shuttle Columbia. The following year, AMD and Intel signed a technology exchange agreement centering on the iAPX86 family of microprocessors and peripherals. That same year, in a minor setback, a group of engineers left the company to found Cypress Semiconductor. In 1983, the company introduced INT.STD.1000, the highest quality standard in the industry, and incorporated AMD Singapore.

Weathering Hard Times: 1984--89

In 1984 the Austin facility added Building 2, and the company was listed in a new book entitled The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. The following year, AMD made the Fortune 500 list for the first time, and Fabs 14 and 15 began operation in Austin. AMD celebrated its 15th year with one of the best sales years in company history. In the months following AMD's anniversary, employees received record-setting profit sharing checks and celebrated Christmas with musical groups Chicago in San Francisco and Joe King Carrasco and the Crowns in Texas.

By 1986, however, the tides of change had swept the industry. Japanese semiconductor makers came to dominate the memory markets--up until now a mainstay for AMD--and a fierce downturn had taken hold, limiting demand for chips in general. AMD, along with the rest of the semiconductor industry, began looking for new ways to compete in an increasingly difficult environment. In September 1986, Tony Holbrook was named president of the company; the following month, weakened by the long-running recession, AMD announced its first workforce restructure in over a decade. In April 1987, AMD initiated an arbitration action against Intel. Later that year, the company merged with Monolithic Memories, Inc., acquiring the latter's common stock in exchange for over 19 million shares of its own, a trade valued at $425 million. By 1989 AMD Chairman Jerry Sanders was talking about transformation: changing the entire company to compete in new markets, a process which began in October 1988, with the groundbreaking on the Submicron Development Center.

Making the Transformation: 1989--94

Finding new ways to compete led to the concept of AMD's "Spheres of Influence." For the transforming AMD, those spheres were microprocessors compatible with IBM computers, networking and communication chips, programmable logic devices, and high-performance memories. In addition, the company's long survival depended on developing submicron process technology that would fill its manufacturing needs into the next century.

By its 25th anniversary, AMD had put to work every ounce of tenaciousness it had to achieve those goals, growing to be either number one or number two worldwide in every market it served, including the Microsoft Windows-compatible business. AMD became a preeminent supplier of flash, networking, telecommunications, and programmable logic chips as well.

In May 1989, the company established the office of the chief executive, consisting of the top three company executives. In March 1991, AMD introduced new versions of the Am386 microprocessor family, breaking the Intel monopoly. A mere seven months later, the company had shipped its millionth Am386. That year, Siemens sold off its interest in AMD.

In February of the following year, the company's five-year arbitration with Intel ended, with AMD awarded full rights to make and sell the entire Am386 family of microprocessors. Early in 1993, the first members of the Am486 microprocessor family were introduced, and AMD and Fujitsu established a joint venture to produce flash memories, a new technology in which memory chips retained information even after the power was turned off. In July the Austin facility broke ground on Fab 25. In January 1994, computer reseller Compaq Computer Corporation and AMD formed a long-term alliance under which Am486 microprocessors would power Compaq computers. A month later, AMD employees began moving into One AMD Place in Sunnyvale, the company's new headquarters, and Digital Equipment Corporation became the foundry for Am486 microprocessors. In March 1994, a federal court jury confirmed AMD's right to use Intel microcode in 287 math coprocessors, and the company celebrated its 25th anniversary with Rod Stewart in Sunnyvale and Bruce Hornsby in Austin.

From Transformation to Transcendence: 1994--97

In January 1996, the company purchased Milpitas, California-based NexGen, Inc., a smaller semiconductor manufacturer founded in 1989. For fiscal 1998, the company posted net sales of $2.54 billion, a 7.9 percent increase, but also recorded a painful net loss on income of $104 million. In mid-1999, Hillsboro, Oregon-based Lattice Semiconductor Corp. purchased AMD's semiconductor manufacturing unit Vantis Corp. for $500 million in cash.

With Microsoft holding the software market in one fist, and Intel holding the microprocessor market in another, companies like National Semiconductor bowed out of the microprocessor manufacturing business in the late 1990s, refocusing their efforts instead on core competencies. Other companies, according to Kathleen Doler's August 1999 editorial in Electronic Business, "lost money six out of nine fiscal quarters." Indeed, AMD reported a 1999 second quarter loss of $162 million. With "68 percent of its revenue [derived] from microprocessors and related products," Doler said, it seemed only prudent that AMD would diversify into other products in order to stay alive in the 21st century.

 

 viii)    Business Philosophy & Business Strategies used.

Advanced Micro Devices Slogan

A slogan is a short, memorable catch phrase, tagline or motto used to to identify a product or company in advertisements. The advertising slogan, or business slogan most associated with Advanced Micro Devices, is:

"The Future is Fusion"

Advanced Micro Devices Mission Statement and/or Vision Statement

Mission Statements and Vision Statements are written for customers and employees of corporations. A Mission Statement can be defined as a sentence or short paragraph written by a company or business which reflects its core purpose, identity, values and principle business aims. The definition for a Vision Statement is a sentence or short paragraph providing a broad, aspirational image of the future.

Advanced Micro Devices Mission Statement:

"Because our customers’ needs are ever-changing, AMD understands the value of looking towards—and keeping pace with—the future. To help ensure we meet our customers’ needs today and tomorrow, AMD invests in state-of-the-art technology research many years in advance of first commercial use."

Advanced Micro Devices Vision Statement:

"Like other world-class companies, we are proud of our success, but we are never satisfied. At AMD, we are committed to delivering the innovative solutions our customers need, building the framework for sustainable growth going forward. "

Business Strategies :

Events and publications

Although AMD frequently refuses to provide information about upcoming products and plans, it does hold annual Analyst Days to reveal and explain key future technologies, and to present official technology roadmaps. The event held in mid-year is referred to as "Technology Analyst Day", with its main focus on upcoming technologies and trends. The end-of-year event is referred to as "Financial Analyst Day" and focuses on the financial performance of the company through the previous year.

In addition to these events, AMD also publishes printed media. Publications include the AMD Accelerate and the discontinued AMDEdge. The AMD Accelerate magazine, originally published through Ziff Davis Media, focuses on SME and business applications, while AMD Edge focused on overall technologies from AMD. Since Ziff Davis Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the AMD Accelerate magazine has been published through IDG. AMD also has electronic newsletters to promote its server-oriented Opteron processors and related business solutions

ix) Achievements attained in terms of Market Share, Sales Turnover, Number of Outlets, Recognition, Adoption & Acceptance of Product, etc.

Revenue Recognition  

Prior to the second quarter of fiscal 2006, the Company generally recognized revenue when AMD, the Company’s sole distributors, sold its products to their OEM customers and title and risk of loss for the products transferred to the OEM. In the second quarter of fiscal 2006, the Company began selling its products directly to the customers previously served by AMD. Since such time, the Company generally recognizes revenue when it has sold its products to its OEM customers and title and risk of loss for the products have transferred to the OEM.

Prior to the second quarter of fiscal 2006, AMD sold the Company’s products to its distributors under terms allowing these distributors certain rights of return, stock rotation and price protection privileges on unsold merchandise held by them. The Company extended the same rights on these Flash memory product sales to AMD. Accordingly, the Company deferred revenue and related product costs from such sales to AMD as deferred income on shipments to related party/member, until the merchandise was resold by AMD’s distributors. In the second quarter of fiscal 2006, the Company began to sell directly to such distributors and to provide similar rights of return, stock rotation and price protection previously offered by AMD. The Company defers the recognition of revenue and related product costs on these sales as deferred income until the merchandise is resold by its distributors. The Company also sells some of its products to certain distributors under sales arrangements with terms that do not allow for rights of returns or price protection on unsold products held by them. In these instances, the Company recognizes revenue when it ships the product directly to the distributors.

Market Share

Intel may still be king of the microprocessing hill, but from the looks of IDC's latest market report, scrappy underdog AMD is starting to claim more of the $9.5 billion dollar pie. The semiconductor stalwarts faced off in four separate market categories with runner-up AMD seeing gains in all, save for servers where its paltry 5.5 percent share dropped 0.6 percent versus Intel's commanding 94.5 percent lead. The Q2 2011 report pegged Intel's overall worldwide share at 79.3 percent, a 1.5 percent decrease from the previous quarter, while AMD saw a 1.5 percent increase to 20.4 percent. For the mobile PC realm, Intel once again saw a decline as its 84.4 percent share took a 1.9 percent quarter to quarter tumble, with AMD again seeing a nearly 2 percent gain in its 15.2 percent stake. In the desktop PC segment, AMD grabbed an additional 1.5 percent, bringing its stake to 28.9 percent, with Intel's 70.9 percent share dropping 1.5 percent versus Q1 2011. Wondering where the second place chip maker got its second quarter stride? According to the research firm, its new Fusion platform, along with Intel's Sandy Bridge, now accounts for "more than 60% of total PC processor unit volume in 2Q11." You paying attention, Sandy? It's time to sleep with one eye open.

Guinness World Record Achievement

 In 2011, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. announced that it had achieved the Guinness World Record for the "Highest frequency of a computer processor." The company ran an 8-core FX-8150 processor at 8.429-GHz.  The record was set on August 31, 2011 in Austin Texas. The previous record was 8.308-GHz with Intel Celeron 352 (one core).

On November 1st, 2011, AMD's exact same microprocessor, the FX-8150 was used to break the record yet-again at a slightly higher 8.461GHz.

  

Product Acceptance

AMD product now has become popular IT product especially in microprocessor technology. End user nowadays tends to seek IT product with low budget as well as with high performances. Based on the microprocessor’s comparison from expert, AMD has provides the cost-effective IT products compared with their main competitor Intel. Many companies also had changed their support to AMD products since many company practices cost down in term of acquisition of IT equipment in the company.

Outlets / Branch :

A global company, AMD has corporate offices, sales resources, and research & development facilities around the world with headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.

North America - Canada ,North America - U.S. , Europe , Asia Pacific including Malaysia, South & Central America & Caribbean, Middle East  Asia & Gulf Countries and Africa North America – Canada.

x)  How the product / company got its name.

K5, K6, Athlon, Duron and Sempron

 

AMD's first in-house x86 processor was the K5 which was launched in 1996. The "K" was a reference to Kryptonite, which from comic book lore, was the only substance (radioactive pieces of his home planet) which could harm Superman, a clear reference to Intel, which dominated in the market at the time, as "Superman". The numeral "5" refers to the fifth processor generation, which Intel introduced as Pentium because the US Trademark and Patent Office ruled that mere numbers could not be trademarked.

The K7 was AMD's seventh generation x86 processor, making its debut on June 23, 1999, under the brand name Athlon. Unlike previous AMD processors, it could not be used on the same motherboards as Intels' due to licensing issues surrounding Intel's Slot 1 connector, and instead used a Slot A connector, referenced to the Alpha processor bus. The Duron was a lower cost and limited version of the Athlon (64KB instead of 256KB L2 cache) in a 462-pin socketed PGA(socket A) or soldered directly on to the motherboard. Sempron was released as a lower cost Athlon XP replacing Duron in the socket A PGA era and since migrated upward to all new sockets up to AM3. On October 9, 2001 the Athlon XP was released, followed by the Athlon XP with 512KB L2 Cache on February 10, 2003.

Athlon64, Opteron and Phenom 

The K8 was a major revision of the K7 architecture, with the most notable features being the addition of a 64-bit extension to the x86 instruction set (officially called AMD64), the incorporation of an on-chip memory controller, and the implementation of an extremely high performance point-to-point interconnect called Hyper Transport as part of the Direct Connect Architecture. The technology was initially launched as the Opteron server-oriented processor. Shortly thereafter it was incorporated into a product for desktop PCs, branded Athlon 64.

AMD released the first dual core Opteron, an x86-based server CPU, on April 21, 2005. The first desktop-based dual core processor family—the Athlon 64 X2—came a month later. In early May 2007, AMD had abandoned the string "64" in its dual-core desktop product branding, becoming Athlon X2, downplaying the significance of 64bit Computing in its processors while upcoming updates involved some of the improvements to the microarchitecture, and a shift of target market from mainstream desktop systems to value dual-core desktop systems. AMD has also started to release dual-core Sempron processors in early 2008 exclusively in China, branded as Sempron 2000 series, with lower HyperTransport speed and smaller L2 cache, thus the firm completes its dual-core product portfolio for each market segment.

The latest AMD microprocessor architecture, known as K10, became the successor to the K8 microarchitecture. The first processors released on this architecture were introduced on September 10, 2007 consisting of nine quad-core Third Generation Opteron processors. This was followed by the Phenom processor for desktop. K10 processors came in dual-core, triple-core, and quad-core versions with all cores on a single die. A new platform codename "Spider" was released utilising the new Phenom processor as well as an R770 GPU and a 790 GX/FX chipset from the AMD 700 chipset series. This was built at 65nm, hence it was uncompetitive with Intel, which had already progressed to the smaller and more power efficient 45nm node.

In January 2009 AMD released a new processor line dubbed Phenom II, a refresh of the original Phenom built using the 45 nm process. Along with this came a new platform codename "Dragon" which utilised a new Phenom II processor, an ATI R770 GPU from the R700 GPU family, as well as a 790 GX/FX chipset from the AMD 700 chipset series. This came in dual-core, triple-core and quad-core variants, all using the same die with cores disabled for the triple-core and dual-core versions. This resolved issues that the original Phenom had including low clock speed, a small L3 cache and a Cool'n'Quiet bug that decreased performance. This was price and performance competitive with Intel's mid to high range Core 2 Quads. The processor also enhanced the Phenom's memory controller, allowing it to use DDR3 in a new native socket AM3, while maintaining backwards compatibility with AM2+, the socket used for the Phenom, and allowing the use of the DDR2 memory that was used with the platform. In 2010 a new Phenom II hexa-core (6 core) processor codenamed "Thuban" was released. This is a totally new die based on the hexa-core "Istanbul" Opteron processor. It also includes AMD's "turbo core" technology which allows the processor to automatically switch from 6 cores to 3 faster cores when more pure speed is needed. This is part of AMD's Enthusiast platform codenamed ”Leo" utilising a new Phenom II processor, a new chipset from the AMD 800 chipset series and an ATI "Cypress" GPU from the Evergreen (GPU family) GPU series.

Fusion, Bobcat, Bulldozer 

After the merger between AMD and ATI, an initiative codenamed Fusion was announced that will merge a CPU and GPU on some of their entry level chips, including a minimum 16 lane PCI Express link to accommodate external PCI Express peripherals, thereby eliminating the requirement of a northbridge chip completely from the motherboard. The initiative will see some of the processing originally done on the CPU (e.g. Floating Point Unit operations) moved to the GPU, which is better optimized for calculations such as Floating Point Unit calculations. This is referred to by AMD as an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU). AMD will move to a modular design methodology named "M-SPACE", where two new processor cores, codenamed "Bulldozer" and "Bobcat" will be released; Bulldozer is slated for the 2011 timeframe, whereas Bobcat is expected in Q4 2010.

While very little preliminary information exists even in AMD's Technology Analyst Day 2007, both cores are to be built from the ground up. The Bulldozer core focused on 10 watt to 100 watt products, with optimizations for performance-per-watt ratios and HPC applications and includes newly announced XOP, FMA4 and CVT16 instructions, while the Bobcat core will focus on 1 watt to 10 watt products, given that the core is a simplified x86 score to reduce power draw. Both of the cores will be able to incorporate full DirectX compatible GPU core(s) under the Fusion label, or as standalone products as a general purpose CPU.

Llano is to be the second APU released, targeted at the mainstream market.This will incorporate a CPU and GPU on the same die, as well as the Northbridge functions, and labeled on AMD's new timeline as using "Socket FMI" with DDR3 memory. This will, however, not be based on the new bulldozer core and will in fact be similar to the current PhenomII "Deneb" processor serving as AMD's high-end processor until the release of the new 32 nm parts. On September 28, 2011, AMD said that the third quarter of 2011 won't have a 10% revenue increase as AMD planned before, because of the manufacturing problem with the 32nm Llano Fusion chips.

 Bulldozer is revealed to be organized in modules, each consisting of two integer cores capable of processing integers and one floating point unit (FPU). Each module will be seen by the OS as two cores and all of AMD's new 2011, 32 nm high-end desktop and server parts will be built on the Bulldozer microarchitecture, including Zambezi and Orochi for the desktop and Interlagos and Valencia for the server market. AMD’s Bulldozer/Orochi core die size is 315mm^2.

On August 31, 2011, AMD's Bulldozer created a new world record for CPU speed of 8429.4MHz (the old record was 8308.9MHz).

On September 26, 2011, new Opteron central processing units (CPUs), AMD's first new micro-architecture in eight years, will be unveiled. According to AMD, these new microprocessors' performance is 35% higher than current Opteron chips. 

xi) Unique features about the product /services/business concept that makes it outstanding.

Graphics Products

After acquiring the graphics processor maker ATI Technologies in 2006, AMD restructured some of 

its combined product lines. Since 2010, all of the company's graphics processing products have been marketed under the AMD brand name.

AMD chipsets

Before the launch of Athlon 64 processors in 2003, AMD designed chipsets for their processors spanning the K6 and K7 processor generations. The chipsets include the AMD-640, AMD-751 and the AMD-761 chipsets. The situation changed in 2003 with the release of Athlon 64 processors, and AMD chose not to further design its own chipsets for its desktop processors while opening the desktop platform to allow other firms to design chipsets. This is the "Open Platform Management Architecture" with ATI, VIA and SiS developing their own chipset for Athlon 64 processors and later Athlon 64 X2 and Athlon 64 FX processors, including the Quad FX platform chipset from Nvidia.

The initiative went further with the release of Opteron server processors as AMD stopped the design of server chipsets in 2004 after releasing the AMD-8111 chipset, and again opened the server platform for firms to develop chipsets for Opteron processors. As of today, Nvidia and Broadcom are the sole designing firms of server chipsets for Opteron processors.

On November 15, 2007, AMD announced a new chipset series portfolio, the AMD 7-Series chipsets, covering from enthusiast multi-graphics segment to value IGP segment, to replace the AMD 480/570/580 chipsets and AMD 690 series chipsets, marking AMD's first enthusiast multi-graphics chipset. Discrete graphics chipsets were launched on November 15, 2007 as part of the codenamed Spider desktop platform, and IGP chipsets were launched at a later time in Spring 2008 as part of the codenamed Cartwheel platform.

AMD Live!

AMD LIVE! is a platform marketing initiative focusing the consumer electronics segment, with a recently announced Active TV initiative for streaming Internet videos from web video services such as YouTube, into AMD Live! PC as well as connected digital TVs, together with a scheme for an ecosystem of certified peripherals for the ease of customers to identify peripherals for AMD Live! systems for digital home experience, called "AMD Live! Ready".

AMD Quad FX platform

The AMD Quad FX platform, being an extreme enthusiast platform, allows two processors to connect through HyperTransport, which is a similar setup to dual-processor (2P) servers, excluding the use of buffered memory/registered memory DIMM modules, and a server motherboard, the current setup includes two Athlon 64 FX-70 series processors and a special motherboard. AMD pushed the platform for the surging demands for what AMD calls "megatasking" for true enthusiasts, the ability to do more tasks on a single system. The platform refreshes with the introduction of Phenom FX processors and the next-generation RD790 chipset, codenamed "FASN8".

Commercial platform

The first AMD server/workstation platform after ATI acquisition is scheduled to be released on 2009 timeframe. Codenamed Fiorano, AMD's first multi-processor server platform after ATI acquisition consists of AMD SR5690 + SP5100 server chipsets, supporting 45 nm, codenamed Shanghai Socket F+ processors and registered DDR2 memory. Future update include the Maranell o platform supporting 45 nm, codenamed Istanbul, Socket G34 processors with DDR3 memory. On single-processor platform, the codenamed Catalunya platform consists of codenamed Suzuka 45 nm quad-core processor with AMD SR5580 + SP5100 chipset and DDR3 support.

AMD's x86 virtualization extension to the 64-bit x86 architecture is named AMD Virtualization, also known by the abbreviation AMD-V, and is sometimes referred to by the code name "Pacifica". AMD processors using Socket AM2, Socket S1, and Socket F include AMD Virtualization support. AMD Virtualization is also supported by release two (8200, 2200 and 1200 series) of the Opteron processors. The third generation (8300 and 2300 series) of Opteron processors will see an update in virtualization technology, specifically the Rapid Virtualization Indexing (also known by the development name Nested Page Tables), alongside the Tagged TLB and Device Exclusion Vector (DEV).

AMD also promotes the "AMD I/O Virtualization Technology" (also known as IOMMU) for I/O virtualization. The AMD IOMMU specification has been updated to version 1.2.  The specification describes the use of a Hyper Transport architecture.

Desktop platforms

Starting in 2007, AMD, following Intel, began using codenames for its desktop platforms such as Spider or Dragon. The platforms, unlike Intel's approach, will refresh every year, putting focus on platform specialization. The platform includes components as AMD processors, chipsets, ATI graphics and other features, but continued to the open platform approach, and welcome components from other vendors such as VIA, SiS, and Nvidia, as well as wireless product vendors.

Updates to the platform includes the implementation of IOMMU I/O Virtualization with 45 nm generation of processors, and the AMD 800 chipset series in 2009.

Embedded Systems

Alchemy ( Professor) and Geode (Professor)

·         In February 2002, AMD acquired Alchemy Semiconductor for its Alchemy line of MIPS processors for the hand-held and portable media player markets.

·         On June 13, 2006, AMD officially announced that the line was to be transferred to Raza Microelectronics, Inc., a designer of MIPS processors for embedded applications.

·         In August 2003, AMD also purchased the Geode business which was originally the Cyrix MediaGX from National Semiconductor to augment its existing line of embedded x86 processor products. During the second quarter of 2004, it launched new low-power Geode NX processors based on the K7 Thoroughbred architecture with speeds of fanless processors 667 MHz and 1 GHz, and 1.4 GHz processor with fan, of TDP 25 W. This technology is used in a variety of embedded systems (Casino slot machines and customer kiosks for instance), several UMPC designs in Asia markets, as well as the OLPC-XO-1 Computer, an inexpensive laptop computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world.

·         AMD has been introducing 64-bit processors into its embedded product line starting with the AMD Opteron processor. Leveraging the high throughput enabled through HyperTransport and the Direct Connect Architecture these server class processors have been targeted at high end telecom and storage applications. In 2006 AMD added the AMD Athlon, AMD Turion and Mobile AMD Sempron processors to its embedded product line. Leveraging the same 64-bit instruction set and Direct Connect Architecture as the AMD Opteron but at lower power levels, these processors were well suited to a variety of traditional embedded applications.

·         Throughout 2007 and into 2008 AMD has continued to add both single-core Mobile AMD Sempron and AMD Athlon processors and dual-core AMD Athlon X2 and AMD Turion processors to its embedded product line and now offers embedded 64-bit solutions starting with 8W TDP Mobile AMD Sempron and AMD Athlon processors for fan-less designs up to multi-processor systems leveraging multi-core AMD Opteron processors all supporting longer than standard availability.

·         In April 2007, AMD announced the release of the M690T integrated graphics chipset for embedded designs. This enabled AMD to offer complete processor and chipset solutions targeted at embedded applications requiring high performance 3D and video such as emerging digital signage, kiosk and Point of Sale applications. The M690T was followed by the M690E specifically for embedded applications which removed the TV output, which required Macrovision licensing for OEMs, and enabled native support for dual TMDS outputs, enabling dual independent DVI interfaces.

Flash Technology

While less visible to the general public than its CPU business, AMD is also a global leader in flash memory. In 1993, AMD established a 50-50 partnership with Fujitsu called FASL, and merged into a new company called FASL LLC in 2003. The joint venture firm went public under ticker symbol SPSN in December 2005, with AMD shares drop to 37%.

Mobile platform

AMD mobile platform

AMD started a platform in 2003 aimed at mobile computing, but, with fewer advertisements and promotional schemes, very little was known about the platform. The platform used mobile Athlon 64 or mobile Sempron processors.

The Puma platform and Turion Ultra processors were released on June 4, 2008. Unlike the desktop AMD Phenom processors of the time, Puma's Turion Ultra processors were based on older Athlon 64 X2 (K8) technology.

September 10, 2009 saw the release of the Tigris platform; The first AMD mobile platform to use processors based on the K10 architecture, and first to use the new AMD Vision brand, categorizing laptop computers into four categories, based on performance. The Danube platform was released on March 12, 2010, introducing quad-core processors and DDR3 support.

The Fusion based Sabine platform was released in June 2011, utilizing up to four K10.5 based Stars cores, manufactured on the 32 nm SOI process.

Other initiatives

50x15, digital inclusion, with targeted 50% of world population to be connected through Internet via affordable computers by the year of 2015.

The Green Grid, founded by AMD together with other founders, such as IBM, Sun and Microsoft, to seek lower power consumption for grids.

Codenamed SIMFIRE interoperability testing tool for the Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware (DASH) open architecture.

Software

AMD contributes to open source projects, including working with Sun Microsystems to enhance OpenSolaris and Sun xVM on the AMD platform. AMD also maintains its own Open6 compiler distribution and contributes its changes back to the community.

In 2008, AMD released the low-level programming specifications for its GPUs, and works with the X.Or Foundation to develop drivers for AMD graphics cards.

AMD has also taken an active part in developing coreboot, and open source projects aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS firmware. Other AMD open source projects include the AMD Performance Library and the AMD Core Math Library

xii) Key Factors contributing to the success of the business.

               

AMD is the second largest supplier of processors for personal computers.  Many of their products are found in both high-performance and budget-oriented notebooks as well as low-cost, enthusiast-oriented desktop builds. End user especially PC  and laptop gamers are mostly preferred to acquire AMD platform rather than Intel due to its ability, cost and performance.

Most company also had turned into AMD product due to its performances and support. The only reason is that most company could spent their budget to other IT peripherals since AMD product are more cost effective than Intel products.

New Platform Technology Business

With the acquisition of ATI Technologies in October 2006, AMD was able to begin supplying 3D graphics, video and multimedia products for all types of computers, as well as products for consumer electronics. Before this acquisition AMD was unable to compete with Intel in platform technologies. AMD has developed a notebook platform, called Puma. This platform is designed to be compatible with consumer, business, and high end notebooks, making it a very attractive platform for OEM's. The high end graphics provided by ATI gives AMD's platform a significant advantage over Intel's competing platforms.