Market, Partners Positive On 'Fabless' AMD

"This is the real reason IBM is so enthusiastic. We'll be able to serve other partners in the IBM alliance with new process technology. This [joint venture] allows us to bring economies of scale to market and it allows us to go head-to-head with TSMC and others in the foundry space," he said.

White box builders and system integrators were less concerned with the manufacturing implications of AMD's big move and more interested in the potential for a streamlined AMD to deliver competitive hardware products.

Calling the ATIC deal "a smart move," Todd Swank, VP of marketing at Burnsville, Minn.-based Nor-Tech, said AMD would now be free to focus on what it does best, which is design new chips.

"New fabs are very, very expensive," Swank said. "And AMD is going against a competitor with all the money in the world. This gives them flexibility, and keeps them from being tied up with all those fixed costs."

Nor-Tech's business with AMD isn't as brisk as it was three years ago, but Swank said he was encouraged by their current roadmap.

"We just introduced a portable server cluster using their Barcelona chips. So we expect good things from them going forward," he said.

AMD's survival is important, said Andy Kretzer of Bold Data Technology, in part to keep market leader Intel on its toes.

"In this marketplace, we need stable competition for Intel," said Kretzer, director of sales and marketing at the Fremont, Calif.-based system builder. "A lot of system builders felt AMD was not able to compete. We all have been concerned about their stability. Hopefully this puts them on the right footing."

One IT solution provider who asked to remain anonymous had a more basic plea for the new AMD -- pony up some more marketing dollars to the brick-and-mortar channel, please.

"[AMD representatives] still come in and help my people with marketing and development," the solution provider said. "They've always been better at that than Intel. That hasn't stopped. But I can feel that the dollars have not flowed to system builders as freely as they have to e-tailers."

Next: Intel's Already Making Noise