"AMD's processor technology is still lagging behind Intel's a little bit," said McCarron, who added that he's also heard positive reviews -- from two OEMs. "The key piece is having it be current enough that they're not missing the big volume part of the curve. It's certainly helping AMD to catch up. Shanghai helps improve AMD's position in the server market."
News of AMD's new processor comes amid talk that the chipmaker may be preparing to spin off its manufacturing operations into a separate company.
Last month, John Lau, senior semiconductor analyst and managing director of Jefferies & Co., told Computerworld that AMD is looking to spin off its fabrication plants into a separate company funded by a Middle East consortium. The company, according to Lau, will handle AMD's manufacturing but will also be free to build chips for other companies.
At the time, Lau predicted that AMD would announce the news on or around September 15. That hasn't happened but it speculation about it still swirls around the industry.