Advanced Micro Devices recently revealed that it has no plans to support Google Android operating system with its Fusion accelerated processing units (APU) for now. The company’s tablet strategy (consumer and business) is focused on Microsoft’s Windows 8 platform.
The company believes Windows 8 is off to a slow start, but given times it should catch fire.
Several years back AMD brought onboard several software specialists to explore Google’s Android operating system. While that signaled the company’s interest in supporting the platform, the processor maker has set its sight on Windows 8 tablets.
Lisa Su, the senior vice president and general manager of global business units at AMD (whew!) in an interview with IDG News Service was quoted as saying:
“AMD is looking to make a mark in tablets priced starting at around $499 or $599. We are betting heavily on Windows 8.”
Obviously she is speaking about Windows 8 as a whole — the complete platform, ecosystem, and particularly mobile devices and tablets. AMD’s main battle in this arena is against ARM and its inexpensive (but powerful) solutions.
Staying in the mid-range segment makes sense as devices like Google Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD, both priced at $199 and both running the Android OS have conquered the low-cost segment and Apple’s iPad has taken charge of the premium-priced segment.
The company recently showcased a new Windows 8 tablet at CES 2013, which is AMD’s first chip specifically targeted for tablets, code-named Temash. This new platform features up to four x86 cores with DirectX 11.1 graphics processing in a highly power efficient package.
