Mr. Nathan Brookwood

GLG News by Mr. Nathan Brookwood, Research Fellow

GLG News is now G+ Insights

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How will Intel’s Decision to Cancel Larrabee Impact Intel, AMD and Nvidia?

December 7, 2009

Analysis of:Intel Scraps Plan For Graphics Chip | online.wsj.com

Intel’s decision to cancel its first generation Larrabee design gives AMD and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) two more years without significant competition from Intel in the discrete GPU market, and lets these vendors gain momentum in the GPU Computing segment. Don’t count Intel out; the second generation LRB design will be a far stronger product than the Gen 1 product would have been.

Even 2-D Users Will Miss Nvidia's Integrated 3-D Graphics on Core i3/i5 Systems

October 8, 2009

Analysis of:Nvidia Escalates Feud With Intel | online.wsj.com

Nvidia's chipsets outperform Intel's when it comes to integrated 3-D graphics, but Intel's move to incorporate graphics into its Core i3/i5 CPUs leaves no room for Nvidia's integrated solution. Too bad! Windows 7's DirectCompute feature speeds up media operations on systems with AMD or Nvidia discrete or integrated GPUs, but won't work with Intel's integrated graphics. Even users who don't care about 3-D may notice this media deceleration on Core i3/i5 systems that lack discrete GPUs.

Fermi versus AMD Radeon: Who Wins, Who Loses in Supercomputing Applications?

October 4, 2009

Analysis of:Supercomputer to use new Nvidia 'Fermi' chip | news.cnet.com

While AMD and Nvidia battle for supremacy in the GPU computing arena, there's one obvious loser, Intel. AMD's 5870 appeared on schedule. Nvidia's Fermi is late, but its GTX 280 series still is competitive. Intel's Larrabee remains a no-show. End users who buy their systems by the teraflop have discovered and validated an alternative approach that requires fewer x86 CPUs, less power, and less space. GPU computing is here to stay, and the market will punish those who lack a competitive offering.

Intel’s 45nm Penryn: Cool Process but Ho-Hum Processor

November 13, 2007

Analysis of:Intel Ships Power-Efficient Penryn CPUs | www.pcworld.com

Intel's turned its PR apparatus on high today, trumpeting the launch of its first 45nm processors, code-named Penryn. The company can certainly claim credit as the first CPU vendor to ship 45nm products, but the products it launched now are merely warmed over versions of the mature 65nm designs it introduced last year. The good news is that these chips work in the same desktop, notebook and server platforms as the models they replace. This simplifies the qualification process for OEM system suppliers and end users. The bad news is that the new process improves the new chips' performance by ten to fifteen percent on average -- hardly anything to get excited about. We don't expect these new chips to have much impact on the competitive positions of Intel and AMD, but the new chips are roughly 30 percent smaller than the ones they replace, and thus will indirectly increase Intel's production capacity by about a third. This explains why Intel recently trimmed its CAPEX forecast.

Will vPro Turn Intel Around?

April 27, 2006

Analysis of:Intel Plans Enterprise Platform Brand | www.reed-electronics.com

Intel recently launched vPro™, its new brand for business-oriented desktop PCs. The company hopes that vPro will do for its desktop PC business what the Centrino brand did for notebooks in 2003. Centrino introduced the mobile lifestyle for notebook computer users, something users could not do prior to its introduction. Viiv and Vpro just allow users to do what they already are doing, merely with less hassle than before. This seems to me like a fairly weak proposition.

The Sun Also Rises

April 27, 2006

Analysis of:Sun Set on McNealy | www.forbes.com

Ever since the dot.com bubble burst, stories about Sun Microsystems usually have contained the word "troubled" somewhere in their text. Wall Street analysts have been open in their contempt for CEO Scott McNealy's strategy of prioritizing R&D headcount above operating profit, but have failed to notice that all that R&D spending has finally resulted in a revamped product line and a more competitive Sun. Although the company turned in another loss for the March quarter, it reported significant growth (YoY) in its core server businesses. Rumors of Sun's death have been greatly exaggerated, but nobody was going to pay attention as long as McNealy remained at the helm. By stepping aside, Scott allows investors to refocus on the company's fundamentals, which I believe are in much better shape than most outsiders realize.

Can vPro Stop AMD's market share gains?

April 27, 2006

Analysis of:Trying to Halt A.M.D., Intel Plays to Business Market | www.nytimes.com

Intel recently launched vPro™, its new brand for business-oriented desktop PCs. The company hopes that vPro will do for its desktop PC business what the Centrino brand did for notebooks in 2003. Centrino introduced the mobile lifestyle for notebook computer users, something users could not do prior to its introduction. Viiv and Vpro just allow users to do what they already are doing, merely with less hassle than before. This seems to me like a fairly weak proposition.

Can vPro Save Intel?

April 25, 2006

Analysis of:Intel unveils new business brand | msnbc.msn.com

Intel today launched vPro™, its new brand for business-oriented desktop PCs. The company hopes that vPro will do for its desktop PC business what the Centrino brand did for notebooks in 2003. Color us skeptical. Centrino introduced the mobile lifestyle for notebook computer users, something users could not do prior to its introduction. Viiv and Vpro just allow users to do what they already are doing, merely with less hassle than before. This seems to us like a fairly weak proposition.

Now There Are Two (AMD Fabs in Dresden)

April 25, 2006

Analysis of:AMD starts shipping chips from plant | news.zdnet.com

AMD announced that it had begun delivery of the first processors built in its new 300mm fab in Dresden, Germany on the somewhat accelerated schedule it announced two years earlier. Intel moved to 300mm production years ago, so this move represents a catch-up in terms of tapping the economics of 300mm wafer technology. Of course, Intel is now producing 65nm parts on 300mm wafers, and AMD won't get to this level of process technology until later this year. All in all, we think AMD is about nine months behind Intel in its move to 65nm, and may shorten its lag time a bit when both companies move to the 45nm process node. The company also disclosed a few other aspects of its Dresden operation that previously had been invisible to outsiders, as noted in our commentary.

AMD Plays the Green Card

April 20, 2006

Analysis of:AMD Forms ‘Green Grid’ With Sun, HP and IBM | www.reed-electronics.com

Datacenters the world around are encountering serious problems with regard to the cost of the power used to run their computers and the associated HVAC equipment needed to cool them. Servers based on AMD's Opteron chips use less power than those based on Intel's Xeon, a situation that Intel cannot counter until it launches its next gen "Woodcrest" processor later this year. AMD is moving to associate its brand with the eco-friendly community while it still can legitimately claim to have a real advantage over the company it calls "its competitor."

AMD Plays the Green Card

April 20, 2006

Analysis of:Green Grid in The Data Center | www.internetnews.com

Datacenters the world around are encountering serious problems with regard to the cost of the power used to run their computers and the associated HVAC equipment needed to cool them. Servers based on AMD's Opteron chips use less power than those based on Intel's Xeon, a situation that Intel cannot counter until it launches its next gen "Woodcrest" processor later this year. AMD is moving to associate its brand with the eco-friendly community while it still can legitimately claim to have a real advantage over the company it calls "its competitor."

Intel's not out of the woods yet

April 20, 2006

Analysis of:Intel revenue falls on missed PC sales expectations | www.usatoday.com

Intel met the glum predictions for Q1 that they laid out in early March. At least they didn't blow the four-week forecast as they did back in December, but their outlook for Q2 (revenue midpoint $8.3B, gross margin 49% +/-) was decidedly unimpressive. Their presumed second-half resurgence is looking more and more like a "Hail Mary" maneuver at this point. The only good news in the call was the claim that Intel has no plans to trash CPU pricing in coming quarters to regain share lost to AMD, a move (that if implemented) would destroy the margins of both companies.

Windows to run on MacIntel Systems

April 5, 2006

Analysis of:Apple Opens Doors To Windows | www.forbes.com

When Apple launched its Intel-based Macintosh systems last January, the company indicated it would neither facilitate nor preclude the ability for end-users to run Windows XP on Apple x86-based systems. It took hackers all of six weeks to figure out how to get Windows running on the new systems. Today Apple announced it will provide its own utility, named "Boot Camp," that allows end-users to run both OS X and Windows XP on the same system, albeit not simultaneously. We view this development as good for both Apple and Microsoft.

 

AMD Drops a Few 65 nm Hints

April 5, 2006

Analysis of:AMD Bulks Up | www.thestreet.com

AMD held a conference call with industry analysts and touted the on schedule delivery of the first processors built in its new 300mm fab in Dresden, Germany. Intel moved to 300mm production years ago, so this move represents a catch-up in terms of tapping the economics of 300mm wafer technology. Of course, Intel is now producing 65nm parts on 300mm wafers, and AMD won't get to this level of process technology until later this year. All in all, we think AMD is about nine months behind Intel in its move to 65nm, and may shorten its lag time a bit when both companies move to the 45nm process node. The company also disclosed a few other aspects of its Dresden operation that previously had been invisible to outsiders, as noted in our commentary.

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