AMD has been seriously behind the curve in process reduction compared to Intel. Even though they did manage to begin fabbing 45nm parts, they still only have a fairly limited selection, comprising the quad-core Phenom II X4 800 and 900 series as well as the triple-core Phenom II X3 700 series. That could change very soon, according to a recent report from DigiTimes, which claims AMD is planning to move all desktop CPU production over to the new process, starting in June with the dual-core Phenom II X2 500 series and the venerable Athlon II X2 200 chips.
New 45nm parts in the quad-core Athlon II X4 600 series and triple-core Athlon II X3 400 series should follow in September. The transition is expected to help AMD reduce manufacturing costs while making its processors more competitive from a price/performance standpoint. In the shorter term, however, during the period between the end of 2Q and 3Q, the company is set to launch a plethora of new processors, which will reportedly include no less than ten low-power Phenom IIs and Athlon IIs as well as 95W quad-core Phenom IIs.
If correct, this would mean most of AMD's upcoming offerings will launch just before Intel's planned release of three quad-core Nehalem derivatives, codenamed Lynnfield, in the third quarter of 2009 with prices ranging from $196 to $562 in 1,000-unit tray quantities.