Can AMD play in the Windows 8 Tablet sector?

Windows 8 is just around the corner and many companies are preparing their strategy to get market share in the tablet sector. AMD have a tough fight ahead, having to release very power efficient chip designs, especially with ARM so strong in this sector.

Windows 8 is causing much debate online in enthusiast circles. Comments on the interface are one of the hot topics and many people don't like the style, especially for a desktop environment. Microsoft are keen to focus on the tablet market, especially as Apple have been dominating the sector for the last year. ARM chip manufacturers such as Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Nvidia have strong plans, so AMD will face a bloody fight to attract potential customers.

John Taylor, director of client product marketing and software at AMD held an interview with CNET and they got to ask him some questions on the upcoming plans. He said “or tablets, it will decidedly be the Hondo chip. We're acknowledging that we still have a couple of watts to shave off to really be a more ideal tablet platform (to achieve optimal power efficiency). But we think that Temash gets us much, much closer to that in 2013.”

When asked about Windows 8 convertibles he said that a 17 watt power consumption design was the best they will offer, called ‘Trinity'. It will offer discrete graphics performance and dedicated video processing capabilities with strong battery life.

Kitguru says: AMD may not seem to be bothered about the smartphone market, but they look to be planning ahead to take on ARM designs in the ultraportable market.

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