announced on Monday that the first laptops and desktops with its 32nm A-series chips will be available this quarter. The chips, , mark the first time AMD has moved from a 45nm to a 32nm manufacturing process for its mainstream PC chips.

It's a major step for a company that has been trailing for several years now.

moved to a 32nm process early in 2010 with its of chips, which included the Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors.

At the time, AMD was expected to move to a 32nm manufacturing process with its own chips in mid-2010, but that was delayed because of giving Intel a head start.

However, Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group, said AMD may be late, but it's not too late.