That AMD shares negative quarterly reports is something we’re used to, but when the company presented the numbers for Q2 2012 it was even more gloomy than usual. Perhaps not specifically for AMD, but for the PC industry as a whole.
When AMD VP Rory Read spoke during conference call he pointed out that AMD for the first time since 2001 has seen a dropping interest three quarters in a row for PCs. The actual report revealed a revenue that was down 10 percent year-to-year and landed at 1.41 billion dollar. AMD made a profit of 77 million dollar, up from a loss of 580 million dollar last quarter, but it is the future for the company and PCs overall that worries the most.
“For the first time since 2001, client PC shipments have declined sequentially for three consecutive quarters-and have been below historical averages for the last seven quarters.[…]We also believe the PC industry may be resetting to a new [lower] baseline,” – Rory Read
Even if AMD reported losses during many quarters sales have increased by on average 14 percent from Q2 to Q3 for the last 10 years. Even if Intel is doing better it has flagged for an annual growth of 3 to 5 percent, which is considerably less than the usual 10 percent.
Is the PC market about to disappear in favor of other platforms?
The information and current trend makes analysts once again speak of the so called “Post-PC” era where the PC as we know it will disappear and be replaced by other products with similar functionality and performance. This includes smartphones, tablets and other mobile computing products.
Intel have already started focusing more on these platforms with its Atom architecture, but also a larger focus on energy efficiency. Also AMD have mobile processor circuits in development and it certainly feels like we are entering a generation shift where our classic PC is about to be replaced.
