AMD Grabs First Quarterly Profit In Three Years (Thanks To Intel)

Mark this one down--it hasn't happened in a long, long time. Butfrankly, we're hoping it's a sign of things to come, and the realturnaround that AMD needs to seriously rival Intel and drive pricesdown as a whole in the microchip sector. Competition is always great,so we'd encourage you to put your fanboy suit aside and actuallyconsider just how remarkable this is for every PC enthusiast.

AMD has just posted a profit for the quarter, which is its first inthree years. Now, we should point out that the most likely reason thatsaid profit was posted is Intel. We know you're probably scratchingyour head, but we should probably remind you that Intel shelled out awhopping $1.25 billion to AMD earlier in the quarter in order to settlesome long-standing disputes.


The huge paycheck wasn't the only good news for AMD, however. It alsobenefitted from an overall lift in the PC market, no doubt helped bythe holiday buying season. Revenue for the company was up 42% year overyear. Unfortunately, when you take away the bonus check, AMD lost $57million on the quarter, but it still feels like AMD is on the up andup. $1.25 billion can go a long way in the R&D department, andwe're hoping the chip maker doesn't squander this once in a lifetimeopportunity to really do something special on its most hated rival'sdime.