Gateway Inc, which hasn’t used Advanced Micro Devices Inc’s Athlon processor, is now thought to be phasing out all use of AMD chips in its product lines, only seven months after introducing its first AMD-based PC. While Gateway isn’t officially commenting, a Wall Street Journal report quotes people close to the matter as saying that Gateway won’t continue with purchases once current models are replaced.
Gateway won’t preclude AMD from future bids says the report, but says it’s believed that Intel has improved the terms under which it sells to Gateway so that there’s no longer any economic advantage of using AMD. Developing machines for non-Intel chips means additional costs due to motherboard designs. Using its strengthened Celeron range and more competitive prices, Intel has clawed back its share of the retail PC market from 38% in February up to 56% in July according to a report from PC Data Inc.
