AMD has a packed end to 2020 planned, with the company not only producing chips for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X, but it’s also launching its 7nm Zen 3 processors and high-end RDNA 2 ‘Big Navi’ graphics card as well – and if you’re worried that sounds very ambitious, CEO Lisa Su has promised that they are all on schedule to release in 2020.
Su made the announcement during AMD’s second-quarter earnings call, stating that “we passed an important milestone in the second quarter as we began initial production and shipments of our next-generation game console SOCs. We expect strong second half semi-custom growth as we ramp production to support the holiday launches of the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles.”
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Throughout the call, Su confirmed that AMD is ramping up production to ensure it has enough chips for the consoles when they launch at the end of 2020.
There has been speculation that the next-gen consoles could get delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, so AMD’s confidence in being able to provide chips for both consoles will be reassuring.
Su also stated in the call that “initial shipments of our next-generation Zen 3 CPUs and RDNA 2 GPUs that are on track to launch in late 2020,” and that these new launches, along with its existing products, will “deliver strong growth in the second half of the year.”
So, this is good news for anyone planning on buying the PS5 or Xbox Series X, or wanting to upgrade their PCs with AMD’s upcoming components, and it’s in stark contrast to AMD’s chief competitor, Intel, which recently revealed that its 7nm CPUs have been delayed – perhaps until 2023.
That announcement has led to Murthy Renduchintala stepping down as Intel chief engineering officer, and Intel’s stock plummeting.
Still on a roll
While Intel’s woes are continuing to make headlines, AMD’s earning call contains a lot of good news, with its revenue growing 26% year over year for the quarter, for a total of $1.93 billion, compared to the $1.86 billion that was expected by analysts.
Meanwhile, revenue from its Computing and Graphics department was also up by a huge 45% year-over-year at $1.37 billion. This was, however, down 5% quarter-over-quarter, which AMD claims is “due to lower graphics processor sales.”
While its GPU business struggles (and hopefully buoyed by its RDNA 2 releases later this year), its processors continue to do well, especially its laptop CPUs, and the company expects the PC market to grow in the second half of the year.
Although AMD’s earnings were generally very positive, there was some bad news.
Its enterprise operating income was $33 million compared to $89 million a year ago, which AMD claims is due to higher operating expenses and lower revenue (though at least it’s better than the $26 million operating loss the company recorded in the last quarter).
‘All Other’ operating losses were $60 million, compared to $52 million a year ago, and earnings are 13 cents a share, rather than the 16 cents per share expected by analysts.
Still, it’s overall a very positive picture for AMD, and it's set to end 2020 on a high.
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Via CNBC
