IBM Expands AMD-Based Server Line

August 1st, 2006: IBM is will expand its line of servers powered by chips from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to compete with Sun and HP.

The move is designed to offer more choice for IBM customers in the High-end commercial line. The company already sells low-end servers with the AMD Opteron chips.

Sun, a competitor in the server market, said the move would not help IBM win new market share, since Sun's Solaris operating system still holds an advantage in security and open-source development compared with IBM's AIX.

“Sun has a two-year head start and an even longer real-world advantage over Big Blue’s x64 Opteron. Big Blue can’t match up, let alone catch up, to Sun’s awesome AMD-based systems”, says, Larry Singer, Sun’s senior vice president and strategic insights officer.

At the time of going to press IBM had yet to comment on its plans, saying only that at a planned press event in New York, the company will discuss, “the future of IT innovation and emerging technologies that are transforming the data centre”. Adding that it would tout new products and partnerships in “our biggest announcement of the year”, according to IBM spokeswoman Joanna Brewer.

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