Analysts: Latest breakthroughs won't alter chip race

Intel is set to capitalize on a new breakthrough in microchip technology more quickly than its rival Advanced Micro Devices, but analysts say the advantage will only be temporary.

Like two superpowers announcing successful nuclear tests at the same time, last Friday Intel and IBM both said they had solved a vexing electricity leakage problem in microchips.

While hailed as the biggest breakthrough in transistor design in four decades, the advances do not alter the product roadmaps for the two companies, which call for their chips to shrink roughly every two years.

"It sounds more evolutionary to me rather than revolutionary," said Eric Ross, an analyst with ThinkEquity Partners.

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