Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Pounces on Intel Corporation (INTC) With Jaguar

Jaguar’s performance is so impressive, especially for its size, that an 8-core version of it is what is powering Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE)’s Playstation 4 as well as the next Xbox from Microsoft. Think about that for a moment. These are computing cores designed to work at the ‘low-end’ of the market running the latest and greatest gaming consoles.

I have no idea what the current state of the rumormill is, but I would not be shocked to find Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) taking a long and serious look at a 15W Kabini APU for its refresh of the MacBook Airs when they announce them later in the year. With Haswell’s release slipping into June and performance numbers that have been, at best, underwhelming, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) may have finally caught Intel by surprise simply by doing an end-run around the big dog. We know that Apple kicked Trinity’s tires very seriously last year but ultimately went with Ivy Bridge because AMD simply could not supply the chips in volume. Today that situation no longer exists. Kabini/Temash is ahead of schedule and will be in consumer’s hands by May. They are being built on a very mature 28nm process at TMSC.

Building the relationship with AMD now would be in Apple’s best interests when one looks ahead to the coming merger of x86 and ARM SoC’s. AMD is the leader behind Heterogeneous System Alliance, and it’s widely understood that both Microsoft and Apple are effectively ‘silent partners’ at this point. HSA capabilities will first show up in Kaveri, due late in 2013, and AMD’s is the one leading this charge with nearly everyone in the industry except Intel that matters having signed on at this point.

At current prices AMD may be the steal in technology in early 2013.  There are any number of pitfalls that could derail the company at this point, and profitability in the short-term is still questionable. But, considering the mess that exists within Intel and the sheer size of the task to realign it with low-power versus high-performance is going to take more than just one new design cycle – i.e. Haswell. And that is where AMD’s opportunity over the next couple of years lies.

The article AMD Pounces on Intel With Jaguar originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Peter Pham.

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