14 DAY TRIAL // Advanced Micro Devices currently deals only in computer processors and video cards, but soon it might start to make inroads into the segment of storage devices, if the latest report on the matter is true.
According to Fudzilla, Advanced Micro Devices has contacted Toshiba to ask it to make some branded solid-state drives for it.
Which is to say, AMD wants to join the SSD industry, much like Intel did a few years back, but since it doesn't have the IP and facilities to do it itself, it is making alliances.
It's not so different from how Intel started out really. Chipzilla entered a temporary partnership with Micron before it was able to get anywhere.
Given the sort of NAND-based storage products currently on the market, it is likely that AMD's first batch of SSDs will have 120 GB to 240 GB members.
The ultimate goal, Fudzilla speculates, is that AMD wants to offer new product bundles. It already has DDR3 RAM on sale, so SSDs are the next step.
There is logic in this move, since SSDs, when used as boot drives for storing the operating system, significantly improve performance.
The Never Settle game bundles are another example of AMD's tactic, where recent and high-end games are shipped for free alongside various video cards.
All in all, the Sunnyvale, California-based company is following the promise, so to speak, that it made back when Rory Read assumed leadership: to offer more value and work at its own pace.
Entering the SSD market, even if someone else will be making the drives themselves, could be a very good idea at this juncture.
While SSDs have been around for years, they are not a mature industry yet, which means that there are plenty of HDD owners that could be persuaded to move to SSDs, or at least get a NAND-based drive and use the HDD as secondary, high-capacity storage device.
By this time next year, we could be seeing APUs (accelerated processing units) and graphics cards sold in a package with an AMD SSD of some sort. Probably built from Toshiba 19nm NAND Flash chips, and maybe a SandForce, Indilinx or Marvell controller.
Since Toshiba now owns OCZ's storage technology and other assets, it could be a shoe-in for this deal (which is just a rumor, don't forget).
If it proves true, it will be interesting to see how much control AMD exerts over the design process, if it dictates what chips and controller to employ, and how, or if it just gives Toshiba a general outline of what it expects the SSD to be capable of.