AMD Beckons Investors to 'Next Horizon' Event

AMD has posted a mysterious event to its investor relations website. The event page is bare: it contains a downloadable ICS file, a Google Calendar link, and the heading "AMD Next Horizon." That means right now the only thing we really know about the event is that it's happening November 6.

We can make some guesses about what AMD plans to reveal at the event, though, based on its apparent fondness of the horizon. The company hosted an event in 2016 called "AMD New Horizon" to show off the gaming performance of its Ryzen (though at the time it was just Zen) processors. Unless the company's using a repetitious word-a-day calendar, odds are good that AMD Next Horizon will have something to do with gaming gear.  In a recent earnings call, the company hinted at tech "specifically designed with the datacenter on industry leading 7-nanometer process technology."

At that point the question becomes what exactly AMD plans to announce. AMD New Horizon was all about Ryzen processors, but the company released the second generation of those CPUs earlier this year, and those products can still go head-to-head with Intel's new 9th Gen Core processors. That doesn't mean new CPUs are out of the question, but right now it seems like Ryzen doesn't need to find that next horizon.

If the company sticks with horizon-themed events relating to gaming performance of new products, then, it seems like new GPUs might be on offer. That also jives with an interview AMD CEO Lisa Su recently gave Barron's in which she said that “We will be competitive in high-end graphics. We’re making high-performing quality products and building a solid long-term foundation.” Perhaps an expansion to, or the successor of, Vega is coming.

We're sure to learn more when the AMD Next Horizon event actually kicks off on November 6. AMD hasn't provided a specific time for the event--its web page lists it running from 12am ET on November 6 to 12am ET on November 7--but more details should become available as the date approaches. Let's just hope AMD doesn't plan to stop hosting events like these when it starts running out of modifiers to apply to the horizon.