AMD just has really bad marketing
AMD has always had a component to match Intel's at a price point, not everyone buys the top CPU. AMD is only beginning to realise the marketing potential using their dragon and spider branding of system.
The problem really lies with marketting, Intel has their logo, their tune, their men in toxic suits. AMD has had ... their logo? and that's it, they've had sponsorship sure, but sponsors don't really work unless its for gaming, since sports don't really correlate with PCs.
The main issue is Mr Richards and all his marketing and sales has probably sunk the ship by doing near ineffective marketing. If AMD spent more cash into supporting TV adverts and radio adverts like Intel has bombarding geek and non-geek alike with how they're computer is so great then yes, AMD would at least be known as a competitor to Intel, I can ask my mum and she would know that Intel has something to do with computers, the same can't be said of AMD and my parents watch lots of TV.
Now that TV is starting to go out of fashion, and more people are becoming knowledgeable about computers AMD is more widely recognised than before, but it is too late for that. The marketing department at the end of the day is what sells products, how many countless times when companies with sure fire good products get shot down because they didn't market their product effectively, look at sega dreamcast vs sony (sony were just too strong with their marketing muscle), psion, cherry keyboards, olympus, etc. Most of these companies just didn't have the marketing nous or the power, thus relying on simple niche features which aren't provided by the opposition, or lower price points.
With smarter buyers lower price points work, but really how many of these are there really? it is a growing population, but most people will go with tried and tested, for every good ipod there's 100 competitors, there is no real competitor on tv? maybe sony but they had an inferior products and music system, and they marketted too many different products.
At the end of the day it was probably Richard's fault that AMD did so poorly, hardly any coverage of AMD in the UK, maybe a sponsored football game, where you will hardly ever see the bill boards.
Also Richard's an executive of course he wants the latest and greatest, not all of us are so lucky to afford the stuff he can afford. He probably marketted all AMD products at really glitzy events with the people least interested in AMD because they weren't well known and also weren't known to be good