PC makers invest in AMD as Intel lock-in withers

Major PC manufacturers are lining up to showcase laptops and desktops powered by AMD hardware, as the company’s antitrust settlement with Intel bears fruit.

In November, Intel agreed to abide by a set of “business practice provisions” after AMD accused the chip maker of using illegal tactics to lock the company out of the market.

AMD hailed the deal for creating “a level playing field”, and it now appears companies are queuing up to highlight their investments in AMD’s “Vision” platform.

It has happened in the past that we’ve been working towards a launch with a hardware partner, and suddenly the executives have stopped taking our calls

Following on from Acer’s announcement of a new AMD product range, HP vice president Jean-Pierre Le Calvez joined AMD’s vice president Nigel Dessau in Cannes to affirm his own company’s commitment to the platform.

Representatives from Asus, Dell, MSI and Toshiba were also present in a public show of industry-wide support for AMD.

Speaking to PC Pro, an AMD source who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed that the manufacturers’ attitudes to the company seemed to have undergone a recent sea change. “It has happened in the past that we’ve been working towards a launch with a hardware partner, and suddenly the executives have stopped taking our calls,” she recalled. “That seems to have ended now.”

A momentous occasion

If anything manufacturers look to be trying to outdo one another on their AMD product range. “Last week we announced 14 new AMD products,” HP’s Calvez declared. “We now have HP TouchSmart products, mobile dm3 and dm1 notebooks, ProBooks… we now have a full line-up. This is really a momentous occasion for us,” he added.

Toshiba’s Andy French, demonstrating a new Vision-based Satellite Pro laptop, affirmed to PC Pro that the manufacturer “fully supports AMD”, while Dell’s Tavis Butler introduced the new AMD-based Studio XPS 7100 line.

“We now have three times as many Vision products as we did 200 days ago,” declared Dessau proudly, referring to the platform’s growth since its launch last September.