AMD may have its first-ever billion-dollar quarter as the Sunnyvale chipmaker
announced that first quarter sales are expected to be higher than the $968
million it reported in its most recent fourth period.
AMD sales are soaring on a combination of strong demand for its high-end
Athlon chips, which command high prices, as well as for low-end processors, an
area where Intel has been struggling to keep up with demand, causing many buyers
to use AMD as an alternative.
AMD has been on a roll in recent weeks. Its fourth quarter profits more than
doubled as the firm shipped 800,000 of its Athlon processors. And last week, AMD
beat Intel by demonstrating the first commercial, mass-producible PC processor
that operates at speeds in excess of 1 gigahertz. Finally, AMD said it is now
shipping the 850 MHz Athlon. Intel’s fastest Pentium III runs at 800 MHz. The
1.1 gigahertz chip will ship in the second quarter. Intel won’t have a 1 GHz
chip available until later in the fall.
"Business across the board continues to be robust,'' said AMD chairman
Jerry Sanders. Analysts said that while AMD is now enjoying good results, the
company continues to face the threat of a price war with Intel, should Intel
catch up with demand. Others believe Intel will not unleash a price war at the
high-end of the market where it stands to loose far more sales and earning than
it can gain from recapturing the few percentage points of market share AMD has
been able to win.