Paul:
Apple-Funded Start-Up Says Microprocessor Twice As Fast
Dow Jones News Service -- October 17, 1996
By Dean Takahashi
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Dow Jones)--A chip design start-up company partly funded by Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) says it has developed a microprocessor that's twice as fast as the Intel Corp. (INTC) chips that power computers built by Apple's rivals, executives said.
Exponential Technology Inc. said the X704 chips could serve as the brains of personal computers such as Apple's flagship Macintosh. It said the chips will be available in mid-1997. Apple plans to use the Exponential chips in its machines, as do Mac clone makers Power Computer Corp. in Austin, Texas and Umax Computer Corp. in Fremont, Calif.
The Exponential chips could be a key pillar of Apple's strategy to distinguish itself from the world of personal computers built around Intel chips and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) operating systems.
Richard Shriner, chief executive of closely-held Exponential, said the chips run at speeds of 533-megahertz. He also said Exponential will roll out new, faster chips ''on a yearly basis.'' ''Our architecture is simple and it will have a lot of room to improve,'' he said in an interview.
Intel, whose microprocessors are in nearly 90% of PCs, will have chips barely half the speed of Exponential's 533-megahertz inaugural model by mid-1997, analysts estimate. But skeptics question how much fast chips can help Apple regain lost ground from the Microsoft and Intel
duopoly.
Linley Gwennap, senior analyst at Micro Design Resources Inc., a market research firm in Sebastopol, Calif., said the X704 would have been a much better technological coup had it appeared this year. ''It's going to be hard for Exponential to stay twice as fast as Intel,'' Gwennap said.
Exponential said its chip also will work in machines based on the Power PC chip designed jointly by Apple, Motorola Inc. (MOT) and International Business Machine Corp. (IBM). The Power PC consortium will release its fastest chip, a 240-megahertz 603e, on Monday. The alliance will release a new G3 family of chips next year, but it has not said whether it can come anywhere near the performance of Exponential's chips.
Earlier this year, Exponential received a license from the alliance to develop Power PC-compatible chips and as a result it has been closely working with the partners to test its work, Exponential said.
Exponential uses an unusual manufacturing technology, BiCMOS, which combines the high speed and low power characteristics of two separate kinds of factories. Most chip makers, including Intel, use a standard CMOS factory. Shriner would not identify Exponential's manufacturing
partner, other than to say it was a top-ten chip maker.
The drawback of Exponential's approach is that its chips generate considerable heat and may not be able to be used in tight spaces such as portable computers. They have to be specially designed into desktop computers to avoid overheating.
George Taylor, co-founder and chief technology officer of Exponential, said the specially designed computers might cost $30 more than an average system.
''For the value you get in performance, the heat problem is no cost at all,'' said Peter Mehring, vice president of research and development at Umax. ''I believe it will move from the high end to the mainstream market quickly.''
Copyright c 1996 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Sorry it's so long. Appreciate any comments.
Best Regards
Greg Gimelli |
