Dell to Launch AMD Based Notebooks for the Holiday Season

According to sources in Taiwan, where a majority of the worlds notebooks are designed and manufactured, Dell notebooks will roll off of the manufacturing line with AMD Turion X2 processors during the fall of this year. Availability will be for the holiday season.

This report does have to be met with a bit of skepticism, Dell has insisted that their relationship with AMD is for servers only at this point and not even Dell desktops offer AMD processors yet. However, rumors persist that we will see AMD based Dell desktops available by September which would most certainly indicate Dell is going to migrate AMD processors into its notebook offering.

Another point that would fuel some truth to this rumor is that Dell is losing ground to competitor HP at the moment. HP does sell AMD based notebooks, and generally offers every major model consumer notebook they have with an option of an Intel or equivalent AMD processor. Certain buyers who simply prefer AMD processors have no option with Dell, and will always go to HP or another notebook seller. For this reason Dell knows it is losing business to a certain market and may be eager to capture those buyers.

According to Digitimes.com, a very reputable Taiwanese based technology online newspaper, Taiwan notebook manufacturer Quanta will start producing a wide range of Dell notebooks with the AMD Turion 64 X2, Sempron and Athlon processor in 15.4-inch and 17-inch screen Dell model notebooks. The expected release date for the Dell AMD based notebooks is early November for the 15.4-inch variety and December for the 17-inch variety.

If this all comes true it will be great news for AMD, likely provide a bit of a business boost to Dell as they attract more buyers and make competition between HP and Dell very fierce. Pay attention this September to see if Dell releases AMD based desktops -- if they doit's fairly sure that notebookswith AMD processors are soon to follow.

 

I particularly don't see any reason why Dell wouldn't offer AMD processors in their notebooks. I think they can only gain from this as they will gain some customers who prefer AMD processors. It will be interesting to see if only ATI graphics are offered with their AMD equipped notebooks.


BTW, fuel is spelled wrong: "Another point that would fule some truth to this rumor..."

 

I think this is great news, cause AMD chips are usually cheaper than intel... so dell notebooks might be even cheaper!!!!

In the inquirer they have been saying this for quite some time...
If I am not wrong there´s been an official statement about that .... or a person from Dell staff saying it in a news magazine or something like that...

Good news anyway.

 

Thanks for the correction!

I agree with you guys, I don't think Dell has much to lose with introducing AMD notebooks if they can in a cheap enough manner.

 

I don't really see dell launching AMD processors in their current inspiron line. The options available now can be overwhelming for the average consumer, and adding new processors would just cause more confusion. I am going to make a guess and say that dell will release AMD processors in there next updated inspiron line, and somehow make choosing a bit easier on their customers. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a turon X2 use a different motherboard than a core duo?

 

They'll probably create a new line name and divide it.
It is true, unless you're knowledgable in pc, selecting a processor in their website is rather difficult. They do not break it down when selecting, they just have the speeds and the prices. Fine, you can say that more $ = better performance. But that's not always true.
It would be awesome if AMD and Dell come together for a line.
To think, I just got my X2, arghhh! LoL
I hope they come out with a 12 inch laptop.

 

Some great info there! It's really to bad dell didn't come out with AMD systems earlier... Intel right now is in the lead in both the desktop and laptop market, in terms of performance... I really hope AMD gets some good CPU's out of on the market soon. There X2 and FX series are quite good for desktop CPU's. But in order to compete with Conroe and Merom they better get something out quick!

 

I don't see Dell incorporating AMD processors until they come out with the next Inspiron lineup. Dell could use this as an opportunity to revamp the way customers select their components. Ideally it would be nice (on the consumer end) for Dell to offer AMD and Intel in the same models. Customers could then just choose whether or not they want an AMD or Intel at whatever speeds are currently offered. I really hope Dell does not come out with a whole separate line of notebooks that just have AMD processors. THAT would make things more confusing for customers IMO.

 

hmmm , Dell is trying to increase the profit margins , that we all know .

So they turn out to lower cost Amds and will have to put them in lower cost notebooks line like the B130 , probably selling them at a discounted price compared with the "Leading brand" .

Then >

1. Consumers that wanted a cheap AMD would have a Dell option , however cheap notebooks mean lower profit margins .

2. Consumers that wanted the cheapest Dell would now pay even less then before , that will not help the profit margin ( maybe a little if Dell will be able to get the Amds at much lower prices ) .

3. Consumers that wanted Intels/Top performence would pay the same as before ( HP , Toshiba , Gateway are on Dell tail with better price/value ) , no help here either .

So Dell might sell more notebooks but won't see much out of this , Its good news if you really like Amds though ..

 

Hopefully(if this is true) they will offer the same specifications on both their AMD and Intel based systems and not follow HP who offer the best graphic card options with only the Intel based systems and stuff the AMD based systems with integrated graphics.

 

I did a research about the court case AMD vs Intel. AMD claims that Intel would offer OEMs cash and marketing incentives to have exclusive business with them and make sure that other parts would only run smoothly on Intel based computers. Just research the case. But now since Dell's business is hurt due to this realationship they have no choice but to offer AMD. Although a monoploy legal in the US but gaining market share with a cash incentive is illegal.

 

With the price war right now between these two companiesdont be suprised to see Intel chips costing as much as AMD and then AMD pushing down even more. Just look at their stock prices. There is a big price war going on.

 

The only problem that I can see is the availability of AMD processors. AMD's production line is kind of limited.

 

Good decision by Dell. For Intel this is probably the best time. They are way ahead in notebook segment. Core 2 Duo and Xeon 5100 should give them fillup against AMD in desktop and 2P servers. Plus this decision should help Intel in Anti Trust case against AMD.

AMD should gain MSS bcos of this. Maybe they will have around 30% by Q2 2005. But If Intel continues to speed up ramping of core products and release kentsfield/clovertown/Tigerton in time Intel should take back some share in high margin segments which should improve their bottom line. Also prices will stabilize once Intel ramps up core procs sufficiently.