I'm pretty surprised that the media jumps on this information about the Atom likes it's really news. A revenue drop from fourth quarter to first quarter? Wow, that's really news! That really never happens. It's a sequential drop, it's what happens from fourth quarter to first quarter.
On top of this, there was some anticipation of the new units coming out.
I'd have no worries at all about the Atom, but I guess people have to write stories so they make a big deal out of something that's really not. If it were a year to year drop it would be a little more meaningful.
Oh, and AMD does pay royalties to Intel. AMD mentioned this is passing a few months, in a story about NVIDIA trying to make an x86 processor.
Here's an old link, but it applies to the 1995 agreement.
Under the terms of the settlement, both companies gained free access to each other's patents in a cross-licensing agreement. AMD agreed to pay Intel royalties for making chips based on the x86 architecture, said Mulloy, who worked for AMD when the settlement was drafted. Royalties, he added, only go one way. AMD does get to collect royalties from Intel for any patents Intel might adopt.
http://news.cnet.com/AMD-compatibility-no-problem-for-Intel-chip/2100-1006_3-5159067.html