AMD Shifting Away From "Clawhammer"

SAN JOSE - Advanced Micro Devices executives said Wednesday that the Opteron 64-bit processor for PCs, dubbed "Clawhammer", is being deemphasized in favor of an Opteron designed for the server market.

In a conference call accompanying the announcement that it reported a quarterly loss, AMD executives said they had changed their strategy on the Clawhammer to reflect the company's renewed push towards profitability. Servers represent a better, more profitable opportunity, they said.

"Yeah, it is a change in strategy based upon the prospects we see," said Bob Rivet, AMD's chief financial officer, during the call.

"We are right now focused on the server space...and Hammer absolutely gives us a 'clean kill'," Rivet also said. "It will be the best server processor."

In place of Clawhammer, executives said, AMD's 2003 PC desktop and mobile offerings will largely be driven by Barton, the delayed followon to the Athlon XP. Neither Ruiz nor Rivet said the Clawhammer was going to be delayed, per se, but they gave a strong indication that if the Clawhammer is introduced, it may be only in the limited quantities that have of late accompanied AMD product launches.

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