AMD staying out of tablet race, focusing on PCs

While the technology industry today seems to be infatuated with the potential of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, one chipmaker has decided to sit on the sidelines and stay focused on other areas.

According to a recent VentureBeat report, semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices has opted to let its competitors Intel® and Nvidia® worry about the mobile market while it works to continue growing its desktop and laptop businesses.

"From a supplier point of view, those are very different markets," said AMD chief marketing officer Nigel Dessau. "We will focus on the ultra thin-and-light laptops, but not the smartphones and tablets for now."

AMD's decision to sit the mobile market out may be a bold one, but, as VentureBeat points out, 360 million PCs are expected to ship this year. So, even while others may be enthusiastic about the prospects of the increasingly competitive tablet and smartphone markets, the PC sector is no small matter.

Whether AMD plans to move into the mobile business eventually is unclear. But if it waits too long, it may have trouble finding a place. Tablet shipments are predicted to reach 250 million in 2017, but those expected to dominate the market by that time have likely already emerged, according to research firm In-Stat.