Processors Toolkit

AMD, and why the $100 PC is inevitable

John G. Spooner CNET News.com

Published: 28 Apr 2005 12:40 BST

So the effort is more in consumer electronics?
The way I would describe it is, because of our commitment to the x86 architecture, we have an opportunity to be the premier company — if we're not there already — in that architecture. Therefore, we can take it to places that no others can, because they don't have the intellectual property and the experience to do it.

So our intent is to continue to go down in power and cost so that we could see x86 used in places like automobile entertainment and consumer electronics devices, such as a portable media player, and perhaps potentially down the road a digital convergence device that has mobile and computing capability that's far superior to what a smartphone has today.

So by staying focused on one architecture, we believe we can go all the way from a very low-cost consumer device all the way to a supercomputer.

People are dying to know what the deal is with Dell.
We'd love to have Dell as a customer, obviously, and we'll continue to always work hard at it. But you know, frankly, if you take the extreme that if Dell were to publicly say they really no longer have an interest in AMD and they're not going to do it, they lose all the leverage with the other supplier. So I think by definition, they'll never say that.

Then the question is will we ever be able to get to the point where we provide a good solution to their business. I believe we will, but it's not clear when and how that's going to happen.

What's the next step for AMD in emerging markets? Are you going to continue with the Personal Internet Communicator or are you working on the mythical $100 PC?
The PIC was our first attempt to do something different. I think that will continue to morph into a new generation of products. We have a PIC 2 and a PIC 3 on the road map. All those products will improve the [computing] power and value, while at the same time lowering the cost.

I don't think a $100 computer is out of the question in a three-year time frame. A lot of people forget that the first mobile phones came out at $3,000-$4,000 (£1,500-£2,000) and today are free. I think there's going to be some of that same kind of movement with computing and communications devices.

It's important for us to not lose sight of the segment that today doesn't have any products built for it. The trickle-down effect of desktops and laptops into that segment just doesn't work. I believe that we have an opportunity to use our x86 know-how and capability to really build products for that segment. That will be the PIC at the beginning, and there will be more. I think, within three years, it's not at all unreasonable to think of a $100 laptop for that segment.