If intel manages to beat AMD out of the x86 market then it will be the end of an era. AMD has done a pretty good job of guarding the x86 flanks in critical times - the P4 debacle, the move to 64 bit, operating in low margin parts of the market where intel has few offerings, offering 4 socket servers, currently offering higher number of cores than intel equivalents. Also they do a good job of exploring the design space and have at various times come up with useful innovations. AMD going out would make x86 a much more monolithic entity in the market and much more open to attack from competitors. Even currently AMD's low power brazos designs eke out a segment of the market where Intel has no real offerings ("good" opengl performance on a SOC).
Of course, AMD has been in trouble before and those times weren't as significant. I think what could end the era this time is not AMD throwing in the towel as such, but the fact that AMD could throw in the towel because there is somewhere else to go.
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If intel manages to beat AMD out of the x86 market then it will be the end of an era. AMD has done a pretty good job of guarding the x86 flanks in critical times - the P4 debacle, the move to 64 bit, operating in low margin parts of the market where intel has few offerings, offering 4 socket servers, currently offering higher number of cores than intel equivalents. Also they do a good job of exploring the design space and have at various times come up with useful innovations. AMD going out would make x86 a much more monolithic entity in the market and much more open to attack from competitors. Even currently AMD's low power brazos designs eke out a segment of the market where Intel has no real offerings ("good" opengl performance on a SOC).
Of course, AMD has been in trouble before and those times weren't as significant. I think what could end the era this time is not AMD throwing in the towel as such, but the fact that AMD could throw in the towel because there is somewhere else to go.