Intel to Ship Processors With 4 Engines Per Chip

Intel Corp. plans to begin shipping microprocessors that have four computing engines on a single chip -- products that analysts say will help it win back market share from Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

The first chip, the Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor, will be available in November. Intel says it will deliver a 70% performance improvement over the company’s current chips, which have one or two computing cores. The new chip is aimed at gamers, programmers and other people with heavy-duty computing needs.

For general consumers, Intel will ship a quad-core chip starting in the first quarter of 2007. For businesses, Intel will begin shipping four-core server chips this year. A low-energy quad chip for servers will be launched early next year, the company said Tuesday.

The new products give the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company the opportunity to reverse sinking profit and regain market share stolen by Advanced Micro Devices.

Analysts have criticized Intel for reacting too slowly after AMD’s 2003 launch of the Opteron and Athlon 64 chips for servers and desktop PCs.

Shares of Intel gained 55 cents to $19.96. Shares of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD lost 78 cents to $25.99.