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Year in review: Chipmakers a study in contrasts

Intel suffered series of missteps, while AMD turned in solid performance yielding a string of profits and market share gains.

CNET staff
4 min read



YIR processors

Processors: AMD's gains, Intel's pains

Intel will recall 2004 as a time of troubles, while AMD will relive the year much more fondly.

Intel saw several product glitches. It pushed back the introduction of its second-generation Pentium M notebook processor from early 2004 into May. Although its latest desktop Pentium 4 processor came out on time in February, it was in short supply for weeks.

Other problems emerged, as well. Early versions of a chip used with Express 915, a major chipset for desktop PCs, suffered a manufacturing glitch in June. The company also built up an inventory glut, due in part to better-than-expected product yields from a new chip production process. Intel also admitted to miscalculating customer demand.

Still, Intel continued to dominate the PC processor market with some 82 percent of shipments. Its Pentium M did well, as did Xeon server chips, which received 64-bit capabilities near year's end.

During October, Intel cancelled plans for its 4GHz Pentium 4, due in the first quarter of 2005. The move traded the 4GHz chip for a less speedy version of the Pentium 4 chip with a larger 2MB allotment of onboard memory. Dual-core or two-processor-in-one-chip Pentiums will follow, it said. The chips won't necessarily be faster, but they'll offer better overall performance and come with extras, including features that improve data security. This features-first strategy marks a huge change for the once speed-obsessed Intel. But it's also likely to give the chipmaker at least one good thing to remember about 2004.

Down the highway in Sunnyvale, Calif., AMD had a good year.

The chipmaker saw continued adoption of its latest processors, the Athlon 64 for PCs and Opteron for servers. By its one-year anniversary, Opteron received fairly broad acceptance among server manufacturers. Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard formed partnerships with AMD and adopted Opteron chips in their servers.

AMD's PC processors, including its Athlon XP and Sempron, appeared in a number of mid-to-lower-price desktops and notebooks. Its Athlon 64, found mainly in higher-end models, also made its way into more systems as the year progressed.

AMD's efforts showed in the market. It garnered nearly 16 percent of PC processor unit shipments during the third quarter, according to Mercury Research. Profits also came more easily for AMD, which posted a 12-cent-per-share profit in the third quarter, its fourth straight quarter in the black.

AMD will also deliver dual-core chips in 2005, promising to continue its rivalry with Intel into the year and beyond.

--John G. Spooner

Intel to delay next-generation mobile chip

Chipmaker will push back the launch of its next Pentium M notebook chip, known as "Dothan," by several months.
January 14, 2004

Intel cranks out new Pentium 4

Company serves up large helping of megahertz with five new Pentium 4 processors expected to spawn a number of new desktop PC models.
February 2, 2004

Intel's latest P4 chip hard to get, PC makers say

Prescott Pentium 4s are in short supply, according to Dell and HP, causing some to turn to an older Pentium 4 design to keep up with demand for new desktop PCs.
April 12, 2004

A year old, Opteron serves notice

On the first anniversary of the launch of its 64-bit Opteron server chip, AMD is riding higher with quarterly profits and backing from a number of name-brand manufacturers.
April 22, 2004

Intel hastily redraws road maps

Company's decision to drop two chips and move to a technology that promises better performance is seen as a major shift.
May 7, 2004

Intel launches Dothan, new naming scheme

Chipmaker launches its new Pentium M chip family, along with a new naming system that de-emphasizes clock speed.
May 10, 2004

Intel wants bad chips back

Chipmaker needs to check for manufacturing errors in a component of its highly touted new desktop PC chipsets.
June 25, 2004

Intel's CEO wants an employee attitude check

Manufacturing problems and product delays are "not acceptable," Craig Barrett says in a companywide memo.
July 27, 2004

AMD enters the 90-nanometer zone

Chipmaker becomes the last of several well-known chip companies to begin using the manufacturing process.
August 17, 2004

For Intel, the future has two cores

Chipmaker turns to a more-is-better approach, downplaying chip speeds in favor of new features and designs.
September 7, 2004

Intel demos dual core, uncorks Napa

Chipmaker's multiprocessing technology makes its stage debut, and Intel looks to its next take on Centrino.
September 8, 2004

Intel kills plans for 4GHz Pentium

Company cancels release of desktop chip in shift away from megahertz toward cache tweaks.
October 14, 2004

AMD's slow but steady market share gains

Fifteen percent, then 15.5 percent, and now 15.8 percent. AMD is gaining back lost ground, Mercury Research says.
November 2, 2004Behind the Headlines




YIR processors

Processors: AMD's gains, Intel's pains

Intel will recall 2004 as a time of troubles, while AMD will relive the year much more fondly.

Intel saw several product glitches. It pushed back the introduction of its second-generation Pentium M notebook processor from early 2004 into May. Although its latest desktop Pentium 4 processor came out on time in February, it was in short supply for weeks.

Other problems emerged, as well. Early versions of a chip used with Express 915, a major chipset for desktop PCs, suffered a manufacturing glitch in June. The company also built up an inventory glut, due in part to better-than-expected product yields from a new chip production process. Intel also admitted to miscalculating customer demand.

Still, Intel continued to dominate the PC processor market with some 82 percent of shipments. Its Pentium M did well, as did Xeon server chips, which received 64-bit capabilities near year's end.

During October, Intel cancelled plans for its 4GHz Pentium 4, due in the first quarter of 2005. The move traded the 4GHz chip for a less speedy version of the Pentium 4 chip with a larger 2MB allotment of onboard memory. Dual-core or two-processor-in-one-chip Pentiums will follow, it said. The chips won't necessarily be faster, but they'll offer better overall performance and come with extras, including features that improve data security. This features-first strategy marks a huge change for the once speed-obsessed Intel. But it's also likely to give the chipmaker at least one good thing to remember about 2004.

Down the highway in Sunnyvale, Calif., AMD had a good year.

The chipmaker saw continued adoption of its latest processors, the Athlon 64 for PCs and Opteron for servers. By its one-year anniversary, Opteron received fairly broad acceptance among server manufacturers. Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard formed partnerships with AMD and adopted Opteron chips in their servers.

AMD's PC processors, including its Athlon XP and Sempron, appeared in a number of mid-to-lower-price desktops and notebooks. Its Athlon 64, found mainly in higher-end models, also made its way into more systems as the year progressed.

AMD's efforts showed in the market. It garnered nearly 16 percent of PC processor unit shipments during the third quarter, according to Mercury Research. Profits also came more easily for AMD, which posted a 12-cent-per-share profit in the third quarter, its fourth straight quarter in the black.

AMD will also deliver dual-core chips in 2005, promising to continue its rivalry with Intel into the year and beyond.

--John G. Spooner

Intel to delay next-generation mobile chip

Chipmaker will push back the launch of its next Pentium M notebook chip, known as "Dothan," by several months.
January 14, 2004

Intel cranks out new Pentium 4

Company serves up large helping of megahertz with five new Pentium 4 processors expected to spawn a number of new desktop PC models.
February 2, 2004

Intel's latest P4 chip hard to get, PC makers say

Prescott Pentium 4s are in short supply, according to Dell and HP, causing some to turn to an older Pentium 4 design to keep up with demand for new desktop PCs.
April 12, 2004

A year old, Opteron serves notice

On the first anniversary of the launch of its 64-bit Opteron server chip, AMD is riding higher with quarterly profits and backing from a number of name-brand manufacturers.
April 22, 2004

Intel hastily redraws road maps

Company's decision to drop two chips and move to a technology that promises better performance is seen as a major shift.
May 7, 2004

Intel launches Dothan, new naming scheme

Chipmaker launches its new Pentium M chip family, along with a new naming system that de-emphasizes clock speed.
May 10, 2004

Intel wants bad chips back

Chipmaker needs to check for manufacturing errors in a component of its highly touted new desktop PC chipsets.
June 25, 2004

Intel's CEO wants an employee attitude check

Manufacturing problems and product delays are "not acceptable," Craig Barrett says in a companywide memo.
July 27, 2004

AMD enters the 90-nanometer zone

Chipmaker becomes the last of several well-known chip companies to begin using the manufacturing process.
August 17, 2004

For Intel, the future has two cores

Chipmaker turns to a more-is-better approach, downplaying chip speeds in favor of new features and designs.
September 7, 2004

Intel demos dual core, uncorks Napa

Chipmaker's multiprocessing technology makes its stage debut, and Intel looks to its next take on Centrino.
September 8, 2004

Intel kills plans for 4GHz Pentium

Company cancels release of desktop chip in shift away from megahertz toward cache tweaks.
October 14, 2004

AMD's slow but steady market share gains

Fifteen percent, then 15.5 percent, and now 15.8 percent. AMD is gaining back lost ground, Mercury Research says.
November 2, 2004Behind the Headlines