AMD to phase out Athlon II, Phenom II by early 2012

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Having officially unveiled its Llano APUs only a few short hours ago (check out our performance review here), AMD seems pretty darn eager to flush its dated silicon. DigiTimes has it on good authority that the company plans to phase out most of its older-generation processors by the second half of this year, with approximately 30 AM3-based Athlon II and Phenom II parts marked for execution in the third and fourth quarters.

If everything plays out as expected, Athlon II chips will drop from 70% of AMD's total processor shipments in the second quarter to 40% in the third. That figure will dwindle to below 30% in the fourth quarter and the series will cease to exist by the first quarter of 2012. Phenom II CPUs will suffer the same fate, dropping from 3% in the second quarter to less than 1% in the third. Death will ensue by the fourth quarter.

DigiTimes says AMD will stop taking orders for the Athlon II X2 series including 255 and 270, Athlon II X3 450, Athlon II X4 650/640, Phenom II X4 970/965 and Phenom II X2 565/560 by the end of the third quarter. The Athlon II X4 620e, Phenom II X4 910e, Phenom II X4 980/975 and Phenom II X6 1100T/1090T will be nixed in the fourth quarter. Some chips, including the Athlon II X4 610e, will be cancelled in July.

By the time 2012 kicks off, AMD's entry-level E series APUs (those inside netbooks and other compact systems) will represent some 20% of its total processor shipments, while high-end AM3+ FX series parts (Bulldozer, a new 32nm desktop architecture due in the third quarter of 2011) will account for another 20%. Most of the remaining cut will be held by the company's new mainstream FM1-based A series APUs.

DigiTimes' report follows one day after iSuppli's first quarter CPU standings, and things aren't looking so hot for AMD. The company represented 10.1% of the global processor revenue, down 1.7% from a year ago. Although its revenue share is shrinking, the company seems to be shipping a similar number of processors, suggesting that its profit margins have taken a hit (and we don't expect Llano to help matters).

Intel's revenue share grew 2% to 82.6% during the same period -- despite the Cougar Point fiasco. "Intel moved quickly to identify and correct the Sandy Bridge chipset issue during the first quarter," said analyst Matthew Wilkins. "Intel’s handling of the issue on both the public relations and business fronts stands in stark contrast to other recent examples of big companies facing major product quality challenges."

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https://www.techspot.com/news/44496-amd-to-phase-out-athlon-ii-phenom-ii-by-early-2012.html

 

[Guest]

They aren't getting phased out, they just renamed them (Athlon II X4) Llano and added a GPU.

 

[Guest]

so AMD is saying the bulldozer CPUs will be out by early 2012...finally a launch window....

 

[BMfan]

You forgot to add that they also figured out how to shrink the die of existing cpu's as well.

 

[Xero07]

Guest said:
so AMD is saying the bulldozer CPUs will be out by early 2012...finally a launch window....

Bulldozer will be out in September\October. They have to release the new CPUS before they phase out the old ones.

 

[k9182000]

In the performance review how did you guys run Splinter cell conviction in DX10 mode?? I thought that game only supported DX9?

 

[Guest]

2013 Year All AMD CPU's classes will be with four channel memory controler, include budget series!

 

[edison5do]

Guest said:
They aren't getting phased out, they just renamed them (Athlon II X4) Llano and added a GPU.

I really hope they dont come out with the same S#!T for the Bulldozer CPU. All that Bla,Bla,Bla about general use for average consumer got up set!... No matter what kind of user you are, you always want the best, normal user make sacrifices to buy what they want, if they dont know a **** about PC`s they will ask somebody, and they will say Intel...

They have to realize that All that Naming **** and the confusion around all AMD Products make them so hard to select.

 

[Guest]

CPU that execute graphic instruction, gpu that excute cup task, all is matter is how the operating
system will handle all this, maybe win8 will reveal new conpcet.

 

[fpsgamerJR62]

AMD's AM3 processors may have been out performed by their Intel counterparts but this 45nm processor family is also notable for giving PC users the first truly affordable quad-core CPU ( Athlon II X4 620 ) and likewise an affordable 6-core CPU ( Phenom II X6 1090t ) selling for less than a third of an Intel Extreme Edition CPU's price.

 

[Guest]

There is no reason I can see for this unless AMD figures it is loosing money on these, or they will compete with Bulldozer sales.
Keeping the 840/980/1100T going with an appropriate motherboard chip for die hards and alternative builds just seems right.
I do not see these as bad choices.
Crazy AMD timing..

 

[Guest]

I hope that Bulldozer is an awesome CPU, I really do! Because, if Bulldozer cant out perform the intel CPUs, then we may have a problem. Intel will be releasing their new CPU lineup right after BD comes out. A friend of mine that works for Intel said that they will be offering 4, 6, 8 and 10 core versions of their new CPUs. In addition he also told me that they are working on a new GPU for the lineup.

I really do want my new rig to be an AMD build, but if BD doesnt deliver on the performance side, I will go with whatever the latest and greatest from Intel is