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Advanced Micro Devices Inc. on Monday introduced its next-generation microchip, codenamed Barcelona, in its long-awaited bid to regain ground lost to larger rival Intel Corp.

AMD's customers such as Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Sun Microsystems Inc. are already shipping computer systems using the AMD Barcelona chip and the chipmaker has already booked revenue from the new semiconductor.

Intel, AMD's rival, has regained ground it lost to its smaller rival in the last two years as it introduced its own new chips with what it calls a quad-core design, a chip that has four central processing engines.

"The stakes here are for AMD to staunch the erosion in its marketshare and to once again go on the offensive against Intel," said Insight 64 analyst Nathan Brookwood. "That's the biggest thing."

Intel recently launched its own high-end server processors, but those were only speeded-up versions, Brookwood said, adding that Intel's own chips -- codenamed Nehala -- using a similar design to AMD's will not be available until a year from now.

The Opteron chip is up to 70 percent faster than its previous chips while using the same amount of power. Also, the chip is aimed at the market for servers, where AMD has in the past few years fared well against Intel.