Intel, AMD race ahead with mobile chips

Chip rivals Intel and Advanced Micro Devices are expanding their mobile processor portfolios in different directions, Intel going down-market with its Pentium M technology and AMD rolling out fast chips with 64-bit capability.

The chipmakers are working to satisfy an expanding market for portable systems. IDC analyst Shane Rau estimates that unit shipments of mobile processors went up 27 percent in 2003 from the previous year as this category grew from about 18 percent to more than 20 percent of all PC chips delivered.

Intel last week announced the Celeron M line, designed to complement the Pentium M processors that have been going into thin and light notebook PCs, including those marketed with the Centrino label. The Celeron M chips run at slower clock speeds than the Pentium M offerings and come with half as much cache, according to Intel.

An 800MHz, ultra-low-voltage Celeron M hit the market last month in Motion Computing's M1300 Tablet PC. Two other chips, with standard voltage, will run at 1.2GHz and 1.3GHz. The chips have 512K bytes of Level 2 cache, compared with 1M byte of cache on the Pentium M. The Celeron M processors come with the same architectural features built into the Pentium M to decrease power consumption and lengthen battery life.

The 800MHz chip costs $161 in quantities of 1,000. The 1.2GHz and 1.3GHz processors cost $107 and $134, respectively. By comparison, the slowest Pentium M, a 1.3GHz chip, costs $209 with 1M byte of cache.

With the Celeron M processors, Intel is doing the same thing it's always done with the Celeron brand: deliver some of the advances made for high-end chips in less expensive systems, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight 64.

For notebook buyers, the good news is the same as always.

"They're getting more capabilities in systems at ever lower price points," Brookwood said.

Just six months ago, it was hard to find thin and light notebooks designed for mobile users to carry everywhere for less than $1,500, he said. AMD has helped drive that down to about $1,100 with some low-cost configurations of its Athlon XP mobile chips, and now Intel is putting its weight behind the trend, Brookwood added.

AMD's new mobile Athlon 64 processors aim for a different kind of customer, namely one who wants a full-size notebook that's easier to transport than a desktop or workstation, Brookwood said. Although they aren't well-suited to highly mobile systems, the new Athlons should deliver great speed for both 32-bit and 64-bit applications, he said. Few PC buyers actually need 64-bit capability in a mobile system, but some do. Architects and engineers who do on-site work are one example, he said.

The company unveiled the Athlon 3200+, 3000+, and 2800+ mobile chips for notebooks with digital media and other applications that require high performance. It also introduced the Athlon 3400+, which is designed for both desktop PCs and desktop-replacement notebooks with digital media applications.

The 3200+, 3000+, and 2800+ cost $293, $233, and $193, respectively, in 1,000-unit quantities. The 3400+ costs $417, also in 1,000-unit quantities.

Tom Krazit and Scarlet Pruitt, IDG News Service, contributed to this report.