Advanced Micro Devices: Chipping away at Intel

Headquarters: Sunnyvale, Calif.
Company focus: Microprocessors and memory devices.

Biggest news in '04: Introduced 64-bit Athlon processors for mobile devices and faster and lower-power Opteron processors; saw its Opteron processors ship in servers from HP, IBM and Sun; announced plans for dual-core 64-bit microprocessors.

Key strategies and challenges in '05: Deliver on promised dual-core processors and new power management technologies; convince big Intel-based server makers, such as Dell, to switch over, while broadening its offerings for current OEM partners; stave off challenges from Intel and its Opteron rival, a 32-/64-bit version of Xeon.

Financial track record:
Last four quarters' revenue: $4.94 billion
Previous four quarters' revenue: $3 billion
Last four quarters' earnings: $164 million
Previous four quarters' loss: $1.17 billion

"We are the x86 company. No other company has the resources that we have on x86. We don't have three other architectures to worry about."
- Hector Ruiz, chairman, CEO and president

Avaya: Riding the IP telephony wave

Headquarters: Basking Ridge, N.J.
Company focus: IP phone systems and services for corporations including call centers.

Biggest news in '04: Expanded business in Europe with purchase of call center vendor Tenovis following expansion in Asia with the purchase of Tata Telecom; bought audio- and Web conferencing vendor Spectel; partnered with IBM to integrate voice with business applications and demonstrated interoperability with gear made by Extreme Networks.

Key strategies and challenges in '05: Make more inroads against Cisco's IP telephony products; push its gear into carrier networks as a way to offer managed IP voice services; meet goal of boosting revenue 25% to 27%.

Financial track record:
Last four quarters' revenue: $4.1 billion
Previous four quarters' revenue: $4.3 billion
Last four quarters' earnings: $291 million
Previous four quarters' loss: $400,000

"There is a commitment to ip telephony . . . but we're seeing a variety of implementation strategies suited to the actual customers. i think that plays exactly to our strength."
- Don Peterson, chairman and CEO