Intel to terminate AMD x86 license?!

[Da Viksta]

AMD has launched global foundries as you know to make their CPUs and Chipsets...and intel has decided to throw a strop.... read all about it here:

Intel to AMD: Your x86 License Expires in 60 Days

I personally find that distasteful... Intel is stifling competition, and stifled competition means less innovation....and less developement.... and that is not an appealing thought to me....

Ideas anyone?

EDIT: i spelt license wrong.... i dont like making spelling errors...can a mod fix that please?

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Re: Intel to terminate AMD x86 licence?!

AMD should have made sure that their license with Intel would permit them to spin off their fabs before thy did it. Most people will probably take this to mean Intel is evil but in my opinion it just means AMD is managed by morons. Before you do something like go fabless you should be completely sure the licenses you have agreed to permit it.

 

[zmatt]

Re: Intel to terminate AMD x86 licence?!

x86 belongs to Intel, licensing it makes perfect sense. Otherwise you have a lot of other companies making money off of your technology. The agreement with AMD was to make sure that nobody else could get their hands on x86. By using a fab that is a gun for hire AMD has opened x86 to industrial espionage. Anyone, freescale, Nvidia, TSMC themselves could get a hold of x86 dies. Intel would loose millions. Sure they could sue them all but it would take too long, the damage would have been done. AMDs stupid directors should have known this ahead of time.

It seems to me that they have been plagued by poor management since the transition to AM2. What happened to the smart AMD that thought ahead and beat Intel at its own game? I think they were replaced by baboons.


I just did some research and i think I found the problem. AMD's last 2 CEOs are engineers by trade. Intel's CEO is a businessman. I think that can go a long way in explaining the stupid business moves. Let the engineers do what they do best, make stuff, leave the pencil pushing to someone with an MBA.

 

[Da Viksta]

Re: Intel to terminate AMD x86 licence?!

I suppose i can agree with your above points of AMD being badly managed...and i cant argue there either....but i must say that AMD was in a bit of soup and their out-fabbing (if thats a word) was one of their only ways of actually getting back up on their feet... thats the problem...they were jammed between a rock and a hard place....

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Re: Intel to terminate AMD x86 licence?!

They were in a bad situation but the x86 license is crucial to their company so protecting it should have been their number one priority. I personally think the fab spin off is only a short term solution at best. Because both AMD and global foundries now have to make a money off of the sale of each AMD cpu it will cause their chips to be more expensive to produce.

I don't want AMD to go under but careless oversights like these make me wonder how long they can remain a viable competitor to Intel.

 

[wafflehammer]

couldn't they just make 64bit chips then? i mean...most chips now are good for 64bit anyway..

 

[Da Viksta]

they would need to be x86 in architecture,that is to say they have to be able to support 32 bit as well...intel itanium tried going x64 only, thats why they failed, the programs compatiable was miserable...even vista x64 has x86 coding as well....if you open task manager, some windows services wont be x64.... and so an entirely new OS will need to be designed, and no backward compatiability at all... x64 is in ways an extension of the x86 architecture and x64 wont survive without x86.....think IA-64....it has a built in 400Mhz 32bit converter....but was so **** slow it was a total flop....

 

[zmatt]

AMD's own 64bit implementation actually beat out Intel's, but to remain x86 and ultimately windows compatible you have the 32bit side. I can see why they sold their fabs, so they could make quick cash since they were loosing money. But like Puddle said the x86 license means everything, its the linchpin in their business.

 

[Da Viksta]

its not entirely one way if you think about it though...AMD were first on the scene with 64bit and they leased that tech to intel, so they could terminate intel's production of 64bit chips, namely all core 2 and i7 and leave them dead in the water too...same with the IMC, they own rights to it as well methinks...so intel should know it isnt a complete slam dunk

also, thanks to the kindly mod who corrected the spellings

 

[zmatt]

I don't think you can patent the concept of an integrated memory controller.

However you have a good point with x86-64. The last thing that Intel had without AMD's 64bit extension was the Prescott core P4.