Ryzen shine: The little chip that turned AMD's Indian fortunes

Over the past two years, AMD has gone from an also-ran to challenge Intel’s decade-long dominance in the chips that power personal computers—and India is bang in the middle of the fight

AMD, once in danger of fading into oblivion, is being kept alive by its Ryzen line of processors. It also helps that Intel has been experiencing a severe supply shortage for months

India, as it turns out, could be a key driver for AMD especially in the components market, where high-end PC assembly is keeping the DIY market afloat

But AMD still has significant catching up to do with Intel in the consumer retail market. In the meantime, it's focusing on plum public sector projects

AMD is set to ship third-generation Ryzen processors by mid-2019, with newer technology than Intel's. 2019 will test them more than 2018 did

On 9 January, Lisa Su, president and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), presented her first keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. With 4,500 exhibitors from 155 countries, the world’s biggest consumer technology conference showcased innovations ranging from functional to hedonistic. There was Google and Amazon, of course. And rollable TVs. Self-driving suitcases. Bluetooth turntables. Capsule-based beer brewing machines.

So when the lights dimmed, the drumroll commenced and people cheered as Su, 49, held up a palm-sized microprocessor a little over an hour into her address, one wondered what the fuss could portend.

AUTHOR

Roshni Nair

Roshni P. Nair joins us from Reuters, where she was an online producer. With a background in weekend features at Hindustan Times and DNA, Roshni has written on subjects ranging from India’s amateur UFO investigators to the provenance of sambhar. When not pursuing story ideas, she enjoys reading, making a great cuppa adrak chai, playing with street dogs, and avoiding large gatherings. Roshni will work out of Mumbai and can be reached at roshni at the rate the-ken.com

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