Congrats TSMC, for raising R&D spend! But, what about Indian firms?

Source: IC Insights, USA.

Congratulations to TSMC  for making it to the top 10 R&D spenders during 2010! If you look at the IC Insights’ table (see here), you’d understand what I am referring to!

First, the table itself. It has no major surprises, barring TSMC, which again is not really a surprise. As IC Insights itself says, “The industry is increasingly dependent on the success (and hopefully not, failure) of the foundries to continue advancing their IC manufacturing capabilities.”

TSMC has jumped up from 19th to the 10th place in the latest R&D spend. IC Insights expects that TSMC’s R&D spending in 2011 will grow another 20 percent, putting its budget over $1.1 billion for the year.

Otherwise, the top 9 in the list consist of Intel, Samsung, ST, Renesas, Broadcom, Toshiba, Qualcomm, TI and AMD — all big, strong players. However, TSMC, is the only foundry in that list, at the 10th spot.

Now, all of this makes great reading! Everyone connected with the global semiconductor industry is very well aware of TSMC’s strengths and capabilities.

The more TSMC grows in stature, the more will its capabilities grow. A lot of firms have already exited the manufacturing industry, leaving that to the likes of TSMC and others, and some more are due soon.

However, I am thoroughly disappointed by some folks who touch upon India missing out on the R&D story.  More of that in a bit!

First. where is the R&D strength of India? There are firms, based outside the country, managed by Indians, who seem to look down on the country. I even received an email from a gentleman, which says: ‘Without semiconductors, India cannot gain technological advantage. Semiconductor should be funded by the defense budget.” I am appalled!

Well, we are trying, aren’t we? There are names that come to the mind — Procsys, Ittiam, SoftJin, eInfochips, MindTree, and so on! Yes, I know they aren’t exactly world beaters. But hey, they are all doing their own thing reasonably well!

More 'fabless IC billionaires' in 2010, says IC Insights! Is India listening?

Brilliant! There’s no other word to describe the first part of this headline!

As per IC Insights’ forecast of 2010 billion-dollar fabless IC suppliers, excerpted from a ranking of top 50 fabless IC suppliers in its ‘ 2011 edition of The McClean Report’, as many as 13 fabless IC suppliers are tipped to cross the $1-billion mark in sales in 2010! As per IC Insights, this is a significant step up — from 10 companies in 2009 and eight in 2008.

Leading fabless IC suppliers. Source: IC Insight, USA.

Just sit back and admire this table. There are nine firms from the US — Qualcomm, Broadcom, AMD, Marvell, Nvidia, Xilinx, Altera, LSI and Avago, three from Taiwan — MediaTek, Novatek and MStar, while ST-Ericsson is Europe’s lone representation in this stellar list.

In this august club of IC billionaires, no surprises, but Qualcomm retains the top place for the third consecutive year. Broadcom moves up a place. AMD should become the world’s third largest player.

Broadcom at 53 percent, Marvell at 34 percent, Xilinx at 39 percent, Altera at 63 percent, Avago and Novatek at 40 percent each are top performers. However, MStar of Taiwan steals the show with an estimated 75 percent growth in 2010.

Qualcomm, Nvidia and LSI have performed well, especially  the last two – coming pff a difficult 2009. Taiwan’s MediaTek has seen the biggest slip — down to 3 percent in 2010 from 22 percent in 2009.

There is no representation from Japan in the fabless IC billionaires club. IC Insights has indicated that the fabless/foundry hasn’t caught on in Japan and is unlikely to do so in the near future. However, Taiwan and China based firms should sooner or later find their way into this club.

I will now come to India!

Top 20 global semicon suppliers of 2010!

I’ve just received this report from iSuppli, which says that the global semiconductor revenue expands by record margin in 2010 — to $304 billion in 2010, up from $229.5 billion in 2009. This represents growth of 32.5 percent for the year! Fantastic!!

This growth is said to be courtesy of a boom in DRAM and NAND sales benefiting memory suppliers. One hopes the semicon industry turns in an equally better performance in 2011. That’d be just great!

In the meantime, I’d like to share with you iSuppli’s preliminary ranking of the Top 20 semiconductor suppliers in 2010.

Top 20 semiconductor suppliers of 2010: Source: iSuppli, USA.

As per iSuppli, Marvell is likely to achieve organic revenue growth of more than 43 percent and jump five places to the No. 18 spot in 2010.

Qualcomm and AMD, and Sony have experienced revenue growth notably less than the overall market. Therefore, they will likely slip three to four positions in the rankings in 2010.

After a number of years of dramatically outperforming the market, Taiwan’s MediaTek fell back to earth in 2010, as it will barely achieve revenue growth at 1.2 percent, the only company among the Top 20 to not achieve a double-digit increase. The company is likely to slip to No. 19 in the rankings, down from No. 16 place in 2009.

Only one company is at risk of dropping out of the list of 20. iSuppli projects that nVidia will retain its ranking at No. 20. However, ROHM Semiconductor is competing for the final slot among the Top 20 and the final outcome should be very close.

I hope to get into a conversation with iSuppli regarding the top 20 semicon suppliers.

AMD, Intel settle all disputes! What a relief!!

The big news: Intel and AMD announced a comprehensive agreement to end all outstanding legal disputes between the companies, including antitrust litigation and patent cross license disputes! What a relief!

In a joint statement the two companies commented, “While the relationship between the two companies has been difficult in the past, this agreement ends the legal disputes and enables the companies to focus all of our efforts on product innovation and development.”

As per the agreement the two companies obtain patent rights from a new five-year cross license agreement, Intel and AMD will give up any claims of breach from the previous license agreement, and Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion. Intel has also agreed to abide by a set of business practice provisions.

AMD will drop all pending litigation including the case in US District Court in Delaware and two cases pending in Japan. AMD will also withdraw all of its regulatory complaints worldwide.

Ramkumar Subramanian, VP, Sales & Marketing, AMD India, said: “This is a historical settlement for the microprocessor industry. The settlement will set transparent ground rules for open, competitive markets, with which Intel, in full public view, has agreed to comply. Fair and open competition dictates that the best product wins and market forces prevail. I am very confident that this development will help us strengthen our market position.”

This is just the kind of news the global semiconductor industry needs! It is hopefully, on path of a major recovery after having faced the worst recession.

It is heartening to note that the two rivals have buried the hatchet and shaken hands — a plea I’ve been making via my blog posts for such a long time.

It would do both Intel and AMD a world of good to focus on their core competencies and continue to produce all of those magnificent chips that make all of our lives so easy and meaningful!

Good work guys and congratulations. May you have all the success and lead the global semiconductor industry to greater heights in the future.

Top 20 semicon rankings Q2-09 — TSMC climbs up, AMD slips down!

Very interesting, isn’t it? And I am not surprised! TSMC deserves to move up the top 20 semiconductor companies rankings!! It seems that AMD especially needs to really get its act together.

First, to the rankings. Recently, IC Insights released the list of the top 20 semiconductor sales leaders during Q2-09.Source: IC Insights

In this list, there are four fabless semiconductor companies — Qualcomm, Broadcom, MediaTek and Nvidia in the top 20, and one foundry — TSMC, perhaps, emphasizing the growing influence of TSMC as well as the fabless semiconductor companies.

AMD slips! Again?
I had written a couple of posts some time back on AMD and Intel, where the former had commented on the EC ruling on Intel, and also how both were at each other’s throats, and had asked the question — how will all of this help the market?

Well, one hopes that AMD will come back very much stronger in the next quarter, despite its uninspiring guidance for 3Q09, saying that it expects its sales to be “up slightly” from 2Q09.

TSMC, Hynix, MediaTek shine
Coming back to the table, the clear movers are TSMC, and no surprises there, as well as Hynix and MediaTek. In fact, with a little better Q3 performance, TSMC could well move up to the third position, overtaking both Texas Instruments and Toshiba.

Look at the last column — the 2Q09/1Q09 percentage change — TSMC has grown by a whopping 93 percent! One other thing! TSMC is reportedly eyeing business opportunities in solar photovoltaics and LEDs in a bid to diversify its revenue channels. Should these happen, expect TSMC to move up higher!

The closest to TSMC in terms of growth are Hynix at 40 percent and Qualcomm at 36 percent, respectively. MediaTek, another impressive mover, grew by 20 percent. Of course, there is Samsung as well, with 29 percent growth.

ST, Micron, Nvidia and NXP have done well too! According to IC Insights, Nvidia replaced Fujitsu in the Q2-09 top 20 rankings. And that brings us to the shakers or those who fared poorly.

Fujitsu, AMD, Freescale slide!
I’ve already touched upon AMD. Fujitsu cited flash memory and automotive device sales to have suffered immensely this quarter. However, it hopes Q3 will be better and said that customer demand was picking up. So, it could well be back in the Top 20 during Q3.

Yet another slip was in store for Freescale. It slipped from 16th position in 2008 to 18th position during Q1-09, and slid further to 20th position in Q2-09. Perhaps, overdependance on automotives has been its undoing.

An interesting statistic from IC Insights — Fujitsu, with -9 percent and Freescale, with -2 percent growth, were the only two top-20 companies from Q1-09 to register a 2Q09/1Q09 sales decline!

Wonderful industry guidance
It is heartening to see 19 of the 20 companies registering positive growth this quarter. It won’t be improper here to commend IC Insights on its wonderful industry guidance!

In an IC Insights study from late December 2008, it was very vocal in advising firms to adopt a quarterly outlook! It also forecast a significant rebound in the IC market beginning in the third quarter of the year!

IC Insights also stood out by pointing out in early July that H2-09 is likely to usher in strong seasonal strength for electronic system sales, a period of IC inventory replenishment, which began in 2Q09, and positive worldwide GDP growth.

IC Insights had marked 4Q08 as the beginning of the downturn/collapse and Q1-09 as the bottom of the cycle. This quarter (Q2) has largely been a replenishment phase for the inventories. Going by that count, Q3 could well see a true seasonal increase in demand. IC Insights also said that during Q4-09, market growth will mirror the health of the worldwide economy and electronic system sales.

There is light, after all, at the end of the tunnel! Wonder why are the industry folks continue to tell each other — we still aren’t having a good time! Maybe, it is time for them to shed their pessimism and from holding back on investments, and move on to show steely optimism, and indulge in really aggressive buying and selling! After all, work and progress will happen ONLY if you work!!

Semicon recovery in sight? Hope both Intel and AMD are ready — for today, and tomorrow!

Where were we? Yes, the famous Intel and AMD server battle, and Computex!

Is server battle the only ground Intel and AMD are and should be looking at? Perhaps, not! Has AMD won the server battle? Perhaps, yes, in this particular round, for now, as statistics may suggest. However, statistics also have a bad habit of hiding certain vital statistics — like conditions, etc.

A couple of days ago, iSuppli reported that Intel had lost some share in the global microprocessor segment in Q1-2009. AMD, in fact, had managed a comeback.

As per iSuppli, Intel suffered a 2.5 point drop in share. Its global revenue dropped to 79.1 percent, down from 81.6 percent in Q4-2008. During the same period, AMD moved up from 10.5 percent to 12.8 percent — an increase of 2.3 points.

AMD’s turnaround has been attributed to its strong performances in each area of its microprocessor portfolio, particularly, notebooks. This is impressive, given the downturn and the weakness in the PC and server markets. So, is AMD a winner in the servers market? Not so soon!

The gap between Intel and AMD is still quite significant. We’ve had the EC ruling, we’ve had the various server platform launches, and we are done with Computex.

Recovery in the offing?
There have been indications from other quarters that the global semiconductor equipment market is likely to begin recovery by October 2009. Also, latest data from SEMI suggests an increase in investments for fab construction projects and fab equipping in H2-2009, with the trend continuing into 2010.

Further, iSuppli has also reported that after three quarters of contraction, the pure-play foundry semiconductor manufacturing industry will probably enjoy robust growth during the second quarter.

Given all of these interesting statistics and developments within the global semiconductor industry, a likely recovery for the industry could well be in the offing!

So, if AMD and Intel are done with their server wars, the real game is likely to begin shortly! Maybe, it is time for both to get over the “today and tomorrow affair,” and focus on the future. I hope both are adequately prepared for today, and tomorrow!

Whose (server) round is it anyway? Intel's or AMD's?

What a week, what a day, what a show! I am referring to the recent developments at Intel and AMD — to their respective product launches and announcements, and of course, to Computex, in Taipei, Taiwan! Oh, and to the ongoing battle between AMD and Intel in the global servers market!

First Intel… Late May, Intel previewed the Nehalem-EX, a processor that will be at the heart of the next generation of intelligent and expandable high-end Intel server platforms, which will deliver a number of new technical advancements and boost enterprise computing performance.

The Nehalem-EX is said to feature up to eight cores/16 threads, 24MB of shared cache, integrated memory controllers, four high-bandwidth QPI links, Intel Hyper-Threading, Intel Turbo Boost, and 2.3B transistors. The Nehalem-EX is said to be on track for H2-09 production.

Some time later, Intel put out an in a local news daily, about “Sponsors of Tomorrow” — a global campaign that conveys the message that gigantic advances of the digital age have been made possible by silicon — the key ingredient in microprocessors.

And guess what, AMD promptly came up with an invitation to its Istanbul launch, stating that a smarter product today would help battle the slowdown, rather than look at tomorrow!

Quite appropriately, soon after, AMD launched its Istanbul six-core Opteron processor this week, which delivers up to 34 percent more performance-per-watt.

AMD’s poking fun at Intel didn’t really quite go down well at some quarters. I have always respected and appreciated — may the best one, win, and if you really have the guts, do it yourself! And let the market decide who is the winner!!

I would surely expect the two heavyweights of the global semiconductor industry to not resort to such tactics. Instead, it would do both of them good to focus on their core businesses. Poking fun at each other will not bring in the dollars!

One AMD executive even went to the extent of highlighting the ‘today vs. tomorrow’ story on the dias, adding that when Intel comes out with an eight-core processor, AMD will come out with a 12-core processor. And, most importantly, that Intel is talking about tomorrow, but AMD is talking of today! Quite interesting!!

So, who is the winner of round one — according to me, no one!

Now, switch to Computex Taipei, Taiwan! First AMD announced a flurry of launches — such as its two new dual-core desktop processors. This was followed by a new chip for HDTV-on-the-PC reception.

Similarly, Intel made a flurry of announcements too, starting with the introduction of four new processors for ultra-thin laptops. Later, Intel’s Sean Maloney outlined the industry growth opportunities, especially, future growth throughout the computing and communications industries, particularly in mobile and wireless.

Let’s continue this in the next post, lest this grows too long! 😉

AMD on EC's ruling on Intel — will it help AMD break into the top ranks?

As promised, dear friends, here is AMD’s comment on the recent European Commission’s (EC) ruling on Intel! It still remains to be seen how this ruling will ultimately help consumers and AMD in the long run. Nevertheless, here goes!

On the EC’s recent ruling on Intel, according to Ramkumar Subramanian, VP, Sales & Marketing, AMD India, after an exhaustive investigation, the EU came to one conclusion — Intel broke the law and consumers were hurt. With this ruling, the industry will benefit from an end to Intel’s monopoly-inflated pricing and European consumers will enjoy greater choice, value and innovation.”

Fair enough! So, what course of action should the industry now take?

Subramanian says: “We believe that the EC’s decision signals an inflection point in the IT industry. The ruling has the very real potential to transform the industry from being artificially organized around a monopoly that seizes nearly all the profit, into a marketplace democracy that puts consumers first. We also see the very real potential for a step change in the long-term pace of innovation and differentiated value propositions.

“The final ruling — years in the making — is about how Intel deliberately used its monopoly power and profits to control a critically important global industry. How it has decided what and from whom consumers are allowed to buy computers. How Intel severely punishes computer manufacturers and others in the IT ecosystem that do not play by its rules. That is what Europe is putting a stop to. We applaud them for doing so, and if you buy computers and value innovation, so should you.”

I am more interested to know how this EC fine on Intel will go along in any way in improving the global processor market.

The AMD executive adds: “The size of the fine is a clear sign that this was not a close call for the Commission. That Intel’s conduct was of a very serious nature. But it is not the size of the fine that matters.

“What matters are the remedies that Intel now has been ordered to implement, and implement immediately! No illegal conditioned rebates, no coercion, no threats or intimidation to OEMs or retailers.”

Great! So, how will this help AMD improve its position?

Subramanian notes: “We firmly believe that the EC’s bold action to wrest control of the market from Intel to consumers triggers an inflection point that will reset the way business is done across the IT industry. The EC’s ruling forces Intel to immediately change its business practices — this is a punch they cannot slip.

“Every antitrust regulator in the world is now looking over Intel’s shoulder to ensure consumers are protected. And in this equation, everyone wins but Intel.”

Even then, how will this ruling benefit consumers? Will it in any way influence them to buy more AMD products?

He says: “The intent of the ruling is to protect consumers. A consumer’s best friend is competition. Competition is the fuel for innovation, and innovation is the fuel of the IT industry. So first and foremost, we expect that true competition will increase the pace and quality of innovation.

“All market participants — OEMs, retailers and end customers alike — are now free to make choices purely based on the merits of a given product, and are no longer held captive by the “System Intel” designed to keep the industry locked in, the consumers locked out and competition locked down.”

Now, AMD has welcomed this fine of EUR1 060 000 000 (EUR1.06bn) imposed by the EC on Intel! That is fine, but how will all this help the industry or the chip market? Or even improve/reduce market shares?

Subramanian adds: “All we have ever wanted is competition on the merits of the products. We have proven that despite Intel’s deliberate tactics to block AMD’s access to the marketplace, we have still been able to either out-innovate or remain competitive at the technology level with a rival roughly 10x our size and resources.

“Japan, Korea and the European Union all agree that Intel limited AMD’s market share through bribes and threats, and that business model needs to end. We are ready for a new marketplace in which consumers and products rule, not Intel.

“We firmly believe that we have what it takes to grow our business — all we, and the industry, need is an opportunity to let natural market forces work.”

Recently, there was this report of chaos reigning among the top 20 semiconductor company rankings!

According to the report, AMD jumped into the top 10 group, moving up three spots from 12th in 2008 to 9th in 1Q09. However, AMD is also one of the few top semiconductor companies that has stated it expects 2Q09 sales to be worse than in 1Q09. How long will it stay in the top 10?

If AMD does intend to beat Intel, fine or no fine, it probably needs to do much more! I hope all of this to be beneficial for AMD in the long run! Time will tell!

Intel on EC's ruling! Wonder how all of this will help consumers!

A lot of folks out there were waiting for this post! 🙂 Hope I haven’t disappointed them. As always, I love playing neutral!

Most of you, I believe, are aware of the European Commission’s ruling yesterday, where it imposed a hefty fine of EUR1.06 billion on Intel for abuse of dominant position, and also ordered Intel to cease illegal practices.

Intel president and CEO, Paul Otellini also issued a statement regarding the EC’s decision. Later, AMD too, came out with its own statement, where it also highlighted some other instances of Intel’s practices (click the link).

Thereafter, I’ve been reading a whole lot of posts on the Internet and elsewhere. Apparently, it has been a busy 24 hours for the industry and a whole lot of people!

I have friends at both AMD and Intel, and naturally requested to speak with them. Intel has already spoken with me, and I hope to have AMD here soon! 🙂

Intel’s take on EC’s ruling; to appeal
An Intel company spokesperson said: “We respect the Commission and its procedures. However, we believe that the decision is wrong because it fails to consider all of the evidence and we will appeal. Among other mistakes, the decision ignores the reality that the microprocessor market is highly competitive and works to the benefit of consumers worldwide. Regulators should be in favor of the lower prices that result from discounting. Under the Commission’s rules, Intel is entitled to ask the court to review the decision.”

All of this leaves me with a similar thought as before — what course of action should the global semiconductor industry now take? Will this EC fine on Intel go along in any way in improving the microprocessor market? How will this ruling help AMD improve its position and possibly affect Intel’s position in the market, especially in Europe? We are talking about improving competitiveness here!

The Intel spokesperson said: “We believe this is a retrograde step that has the potential to dampen innovation and competition in the market. Ultimately, it is consumers who stand to lose out, through higher prices. Computing power that cost $1 in 2000 now costs US 1 cent today. This came about as a result of vigorous competition in the microprocessor market segment.”

Yes, what AMD seeks to get out of this remains to be seen, and I have consulted them as well. Am awaiting its responses, which should be here tomorrow, hopefully!

The Intel spokesperson continued: “It has long been our viewpoint that when AMD has performed well, the market rewarded them; when AMD hasn’t performed, the market has acted accordingly. AMD, the sole complainant in this case, is alive, healthy, and claims to be expanding its business.”

Quite so! AMD has an aggressive product roadmap, which it revealed last November! It now has to religiously deliver on schedule, and then try to grab better market share. I’ve seen some of its latest products and those are quite good!

Will this ruling benefit consumers?
I have some other queries! How will this EC ruling benefit the consumers? After all, I am definitely a very choosy consumer, and am sure there are millions of such folks, like me, out there.

Therefore, will the EC ruling in any way influence consumers to buy more rival products, other than Intel’s? AMD has welcomed this EC fine, and that is quite all right, but how will all of this help the industry or the chip market? Or even help companies to either improve or worse, reduce market shares?

The Intel spokesperson said: “It won’t! Among other mistakes, the EU’s decision ignores the reality that the microprocessor market is highly competitive and works to the benefit of consumers worldwide. Regulators should be in favor of the lower prices that result from discounting.

“We intend to continue to compete vigorously by offering customers and consumers the best products at the best prices, and, during the appeal, we will do that within the context of the Commission’s decision.” Now, to see what AMD has to say!

To my friends on both sides — Intel and AMD — just focus on your core businesses! 🙂 A request!

AMD on cross-license dspute, Xeon 5500 and HP Pavilion DV2

Following my recent posts on the Intel-AMD cross-license dispute, I was fortunate enough to be able to meet up with Ramkumar Subramanian, VP, Marketing & Sales, AMD India, and Vamsi Krishna, Senior Technical Manager, AMD India, and discuss this, and more, in greater detail.

On cross-license dispute
On the cross-license dispute, Subramanian said: GlobalFoundries is a subsidiary of AMD. The agreement is already there with AMD. It is unclear what an artificial dispute will achieve. Intel is a much bigger company than AMD, and if they wish to divert attention from their difficulties, this is nothing much than a distracting strategy.”

He added that if one reads what the European Commission’s (EC) findings are, these steps are not taken unless they really believe there has been some abuse of monopoly power.

By asking questions on different angles, is Intel trying to gather more information? Remains to be seen!

Subramanian added that the end customers — enterprises or home users — they will tell you that the price of computing has reduced signiificantly and the quality of technology available to them has increased substantially. This is a direct result of competition. “We have merely asked for the competition to be fair and open,” he contended. Value for money assumes great importance.

It is perhaps, fit that two people do not sit across the table and discuss to form a monopoly. A person who’s looking to stretch their dollar would stand to benefit more from competition!

On HP Pavilion DV2
AMD also showcased a new notebook, released recently, the HP Pavilion DV2. This notebook is using the AMD Athlon NEO. Subramanian said: “We are working on platforms. At the platform level, a lot of innovation has happened in this notebook, which will give you a very rich, visual experience.”

So, what does it bring to the consumer? According to Subramanian, it is the visual experience, which would be available in the normal notebook segment. Users can play HD content, complex games, etc. Krishna, added: “The moment you tune the notebook for high-end graphics applications, the Office applications become a cakewalk.”

On workstation graphics
AMD also touched upon workstation graphics.

Subramanian said that AMD entered this business post the acquisition of ATI. The ATI FirePro cards available today — whether in the range of application suites, or performance, or price — seems to be an unbeatable proposition. “We are bringing the value of competition in the workstation space,” he added.

Nvidia has been a partner in many ways, but in this space it is a competitor. AMD’s FirePro series — the applications certified on this particular card — that’s important. “We believe we will be able to penetrate this space very well,” he remarked.

Why AMD commented on Intel’s Xeon 5500?
I took this opportunity to ask AMD why it chose to comment on the Intel Xeon 5500, prior to its launch in India?

Krishna contended that AMD has brought a lot of innovation to the table ahead of the competition. “We have been leaders in this space, and brining innovative products to the marketplace,” said.

Subramanian added: “The world should know that we are the leaders in technology. Our position would be much stronger if the market was fair and open.”

Krisha noted that most people would think one-dimension — performance. “It is the overall value you give in the whole package. A simple example — Istanbul — it is exactly pin compatible to the existing server platforms. The value — customers have an extended product lifecycle.

Nehalem is a new processor, with a new platform. The IT managers would probably weigh all of the pros and cons, and arrive at decisions. Competition requirements are going up. Krishna added: “If your server investment is on the AMD server platforms, and they have a requirement of increasing computation requirements, they can swap the processors. Istanbul is a six core processor.

“In the same footprint, without changing the equation, they are multiplying the performance. Istanbul is also on the same power envelope as the existing dual- or quad-core Optron processors.”

I surely need to have AMD and Intel on stage, someday, for a proper panel discussion and sort out all issues, if possible.