AMD is allegedly thinking about using ARM CPU cores as part of a move which new CEO Rory Read calls being "ambidextrous" when it comes to architectures.
Speaking at an analyst shindig, new Senior Vice President and GM Lisa Su said that AMD will take advantage of all sorts of ecosystems, from Windows 8 to Android.
According to Tech Report, no longer would AMD be "religious" about architectures and instead would become flexibile as part of its strategic plan.
In terms of Civilization V, AMD has decided to move from winning Piety points to concentrating on the Freedom culture. We expect it to start building the Sydney Opera House any day now.
It is worth pointing out that despite these announcements, AMD has not made any specific commitments to ARM-based products on its roadmap.
ARM was only mentioned once so far, and Su could have just been coughing. Certainly for the next year AMD is still worshipping at the altar of x86 for now.
But it would help push AMD into the mobile market by taking an x86-compatible SoC into the sub-2W ultra-low-lower category.
Of course, being "ambidextrous" does not mean having an extra ARM, it just means you can use whichever ARM you like.
AMD has good chip design experience and should be able to bring these skills to any ARM core they produce, which should hopefully allow them to differentiate in whatever market segment they choose to enter.
I'd be interested in seeing an AMD designed ARM core tuned for speed, or leveraging their knowledge and experience in the server space.
Good luck AMD.
Seriously though, it's a stupid idea. AMD is very good at x86/x64. Getting into ARM as well would only dilute the talent at AMD and degrade the company's focus.