Even with the blitz of Barcelona news from AMD and their OEM partners, Intel is making sure they’re not forgotten. The Associated Press reported that Intel uncharacteristically released a mid-quarter financial update on the same day AMD introduced their new quad-core processors. From the AP article:
“It’s kind of ironic timing, don’t you think?” said Jim McGregor, an analyst with market researcher In-Stat. “Intel has definitely timed some recent announcements knowing (the new AMD chip) was launching. I don’t doubt that, but both companies do that, so I won’t call a foul.”
Intel spokesman Tom Beermann said the decision to raise guidance mid-quarter was not related to the AMD launch.
Intel added $200 million to its estimate of third quarter revenue, saying it now expects to see between $9.4 billion to $9.8 billion in Q3, citing greater global demand for microprocessors. If true, this is also good news for AMD, whose new quad-core chips are just hitting the streets this week.
Sometimes I feel like the HPC community in general is serving as the moderator in a school-yard shoving match between the two biggest kids in the class. Competition is wonderful for innovation!