Manufacturer says that it had second quarter followed with profit, thanks to the success of the processors Ryzen and plates Vega
After years of bad results, AMD posted the second quarter profitably, thanks to the success of Ryzen processors and Vega boards.
The executives of the manufacturer also said they plan to implement mitigations against the Specter vulnerability directly in the still-unknown Zen 2 chip architecture.
Check out some of the key highlights of the announcements made by AMD during the call with analysts to reveal their financial results.
1. Demoralizations against Specter will be built into Zen 2 architecture
If you have been following the whole saga of Specter and Meltdown CPU failures, you know that Intel was the manufacturer most affected by the vulnerabilities. AMD CEO Lisa Su once again said that the company's chips are not vulnerable to Meltdown or some versions of potential exploits with Specter.
"For Specter variant 1, we continue to actively work with our ecosystem partners on mitigations, including operating system packages that have begun to be released," said the executive. "We continue to believe that Spectre variant 2 is difficult to exploit on AMD processors. However, we are developing packets of CPU microcodes that, coupled with operating system patches, provide extra layers of protection. "
Then the CEO talked about security updates for the company's upcoming chips. "In the long term, we've included changes in our future processors, starting with the Zen 2 architecture, to solve even more Specter-style exploits." It is worth noting that, given AMD's extensive launch schedule, the next generation Zen 2 architecture should reach the market in 2019.
Intel recently announced a similar initiative to embed Specter and Meltdown crash protections directly into their new processors.
2.Turning desktops and servers
CPUs for desktops - especially low-cost versions like Ryzen 3 - appear to have helped propel AMD's fourth-quarter sales, according to the company's CEO, while Ryzen Mobile chips also began to accelerate by the end of the year.
What's striking is that AMD began selling its Epyc server chips in Microsoft's Azure cloud and companies like Baidu. That will not change the PC market, but revenue from the corporate segment is the fuel that can propel a business to succeed in the long run.
3. AMD returns to profit
Although things may change, it seems that the AMD train is in full swing.
The exact amount that AMD has earned will not directly impact its ability to purchase a graphics card, but the manufacturer's financial viability means that Intel will continue to have competition, which should lower PC prices.
AMD's revenue for the quarter was $ 1.48 billion, 34% more than the same period last year, when the company suffered a loss. As a result, the manufacturer's net income was $ 61 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.
As expected, the Computing and Graphics division, which includes sales of Ryzen and Radeon, had a great result, recording a 60% increase in sales compared year on year.
However, one of the biggest indicators about AMD's confidence in itself was shown a few days ago, when the company unveiled its long-running launching script. You do not show your cards unless you trust your hand. And that's great news for the PC market.