AMD waves Stars and Stripes

3 Apr 2008 | 18:28 BST

By Andrew Thomas

CHIMPZILLA may be suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune on the stock market, but the plucky little outfit can still find time to support America's finest.

"Every branch of the military is using our stuff," George Warren, AMD's director of public sector sales, told Forbes. "That's a dramatic change from 18 months ago."

Apparently, over the past two years, the US Air Force has made 70 per cent of its 330,000 personal computers AMD-based.

The mag adds that the military market looks like a 'natural fit' for the combination of AMD and ATI, for applications such as flight simulation and advanced, three-dimensional mapping applications on the battlefield and elsewhere. Obviously, none of these things can be done using any other hardware.

Warren also added that AMD's market share in desktops and notebooks is stronger in the public sector than in commercial operations, due to government purchasing rules majoring on cost issues, meaning that purchasers can't be too picky on which brand of CPU they specify.

"That helps clear the way for AMD to make its pitch on delivering faster processing speeds at a lower price," gushes Forbes.

Now what was it astronaut John Glenn said went through his mind as he awaited lift-off? Oh yes: "You're thinking you're sitting on top of the most complex machine ever built by man, with a million separate components, all supplied by the lowest bidder." µ

L'Inq
Forbes (sick bag optional)

© 2007 Incisive Media Investments Ltd. 2007