UPDATE: In response to the article below, a source familiar with AMD's roadmap claims that the information in the report from DigiTimes is not entirely accurate. Purportedly a number of desktop-oriented Kabini APUs for desktops are already shipping, or have already been on shelves for a short while. On top of this, the SKUs mentioned below are also arriving sooner than originally planned, rather than later. Another piece of information that came to see daylight is that AMD may be ditching the “A-series” nomenclature, as well as the four-number identifiers for APUs. This means that the models listed below are likely to retail with a different name. No information was revealed regarding the new naming system.
A report from DigiTimes revealed some interesting information about AMD's future. For starters, it indicates that the Hawaii-based GPUs will hit the market around the end of September.
In the APU world, the report also indicated that the Kabini-based APUs would be hitting shelves starting Q1 2014, initially with only entry-level models. (Performance models are likely to follow.) The APUs will use the ST3 socket for mobile devices and socket FS1B for desktops. The units will have power consumptions of 25 W; the three entry-level models include the A4-5350, A4-5150, and E1-2650. The first two are quad-core chips with the third being a dual-core part. There was no indication of these parts being desktop. Mass production is said to begin in February 2014 with an official announcement following in March.
Beema, the successor to Kabini, is expected to launch either during 2H14 or 1H15. AMD's FM1 and AM3 sockets should be phased out by the end of 2013. The AM3 socket will have lived for almost five years. At this time, AMD is also said to expect 30 percent of CPU shipments to use the AM3+ socket, with the remaining 70 percent using the FM2 socket. In 2015, AMD is supposedly planning to release the Carrizo APUs for desktops, which will feature the Excavator architecture.
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