Advanced Micro Devices Launching Two Athlon Microprocessors

Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD Quote) on Thursday is launching two new premium microprocessors in its Athlon line.

In addition, AMD says it now plans to delay until the third quarter launching the desktop versions of the Palomino chip, which will eventually replace the Athlon, and the Morgan, which is the successor to the lower-end Duron. AMD says it's delaying the launches because it's been able to make Athlon and Duron faster sooner than it had anticipated and because it wants to focus on the mobile and server markets.

AMD is gaining market share from competitor Intel (INTC Quote) and is beginning to make some inroads into Intel's hold on the desirable corporate market. In the continuing battle, Intel launched a new chip for the server market on Wednesday. Meanwhile, both companies have had to cope with lower demand for the personal computers that use these microprocessors. ...