AMD Debuts Notebook ChipsAMD Debuts Notebook Chips

Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. on Monday unveiled two processors designed for portable computers, firing the first salvo in a market-share war that could lead to lower notebook prices.

The 1.2-GHz Athlon 4 processor and 950-MHz Duron processor are both designed for use in notebook computers and will ship in Presario 700 notebooks from Compaq later this quarter. The chips cost $525 and $160, respectively.

At a recent analyst conference, AMD CEO Jerry Sanders said a main focus for the company next year will be to pick up market share in the mobile space from leader Intel. Sanders stated earlier this year that the company aims to have its chips in half of the U.S. retail notebook market.

Brooks Gray, a Technology Business Research analyst, says AMD's market-share ambitions could mean good news for customers. If AMD wants to catch up, it's going to have to push the prices of its chips way down, and that could lead to lower prices. "We've already seen notebook prices drop over the last year," he says. "There's been a huge push and price war at the notebook level. This could make that even more dramatic."