Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the world's second-largest maker of computer microprocessors, began selling new graphics chips and announced plans to challenge Intel Corp with a redesigned desktop processor.
The company started selling 10 new graphics processors for personal computers yesterday, updating a product line that has lost market share to Nvidia Corp. The new processor for desktop computers, called Phenom, will go on sale in the second half, said Stephen DiFranco, an AMD vice president, at a presentation in San Francisco.
The company is refreshing its products to try to win back sales from its bigger rivals. Intel, the world's largest semiconductor maker, and Nvidia, the second-biggest producer of graphics chips behind Intel, have lured away customers with new chips. That's contributed to two money-losing quarters at Sunnyvale, California-based AMD.
"Intel's been pretty aggressive," said Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies in Wayland, Massachussetts. "AMD is basically on the ropes and fighting back."
AMD reported a US$611 million first-quarter loss last month after Santa Clara, California-based Intel took 6 percentage points of PC processor market share. Nvidia, also based in Santa Clara, said its sales jumped 24 percent in the first quarter and reported profits that beat estimates.
Nvidia released chips last year that are compatible with Microsoft Corp's latest graphics software, helping it win sales. AMD is adding that same capability to its new chips.
"We'll have the best performance at each price point," said Rick Bergman, AMD's vice president of graphics.
Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high yesterday, the first trading day of the new year, as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) continued to break records amid an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 386.21 points, or 1.33 percent, at 29,349.81, with turnover totaling NT$648.844 billion (US$20.65 billion). “Judging from a stronger Taiwan dollar against the US dollar, I think foreign institutional investors returned from the holidays and brought funds into the local market,” Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺) said. “Foreign investors just rebuilt their positions with TSMC as their top target,
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
US President Donald Trump on Friday blocked US photonics firm HieFo Corp’s US$3 million acquisition of assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore Corp, citing national security and China-related concerns. In an order released by the White House, Trump said HieFo was “controlled by a citizen of the People’s Republic of China” and that its 2024 acquisition of Emcore’s businesses led the US president to believe that it might “take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” The order did not name the person or detail Trump’s concerns. “The Transaction is hereby prohibited,”
Garment maker Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of NT$7.93 billion (US$251.44 million), down 9.48 percent from NT$8.76 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, revenue fell 10.83 percent from NT$8.89 billion, company data showed. The figure was also lower than market expectations of NT$8.05 billion, according to data compiled by Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧), which had projected NT$8.22 billion. Makalot’s revenue this quarter would likely increase by a mid-teens percentage as the industry is entering its high season, Yuanta said. Overall, Makalot’s revenue last year totaled NT$34.43 billion, down 3.08 percent from its record NT$35.52
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