Toshiba laptops will use AMD chips

Japan's electronics firm Toshiba said it would use AMD's processor inside its new laptop product lines, ending its "exclusive" partnership with Intel.

Toshiba is currently the world's fourth largest laptop maker, and it plans to equip an AMD chip within about 20% of notebooks sold in the US and Europe.

Last year, another PC giant, Dell, took a similar step, claiming to start using an AMD chip after more than two decades of sticking with Intel alone.

Intel is currently the biggest competitor in the computer processor market, with more than 80% market share held in hand.

Toshiba Qosmio laptop model.Source: Laptop Review

" PCs today are universal as a normal commodity, so increasing competition is also inevitable. Especially when the quality between different types of processors is not much different ," experts said. Yoshirio Shimada of Macquarie Securities Company said.

" Recent moves from a series of computer manufacturers have issued a clear message: The era that Intel has dominated the computer chip industry has passed. "

Under the plan, Toshiba will use AMD chips inside mid-range computers, both for personal and business users. Compared to laptops of the same class using Intel's microprocessors, products using cheaper AMD chips are up to 10,000 yen (82 USD).

The first shipments will probably ship soon next summer, and they help Toshiba save at least 10% of production and assembly costs.

Trong Cam