Hi Bill, part of what Kurlak said: 'Says that
though there is a shortage of low-end chips...'
I guess he hasn't heard about what's coming out Monday (Mendocino, AKA Celeron A). Can't this clown wait two working days? San Jose Mercury news article today about Mendocino:
mercurycenter.com
Posted at 12:12 a.m. PDT Thursday, August 20, 1998
Intel to update key chip
BY K. OANH HA
Mercury News Staff Writer
Intel Corp. is releasing a revamped line of Celeron
microprocessors Monday, fueling speculation that the
improvements will help the chip giant regain its footing in
the fast-growing market for computers selling under
$1,000.
The new line represents Intel's full-fledged stab at the
budget PC segment, where the chip-making giant has lost
market share to other low-priced competitors. Top-tier
computer makers including Hewlett-Packard Co., Compaq
Computer Corp. and IBM -- which have relied on Intel
competitors such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. for the
processors that serve as the brains of their budget PCs --
are slated to put the chips into consumer and business
computers.
Intel will unveil the new design running at two clock
speeds Monday, a 300- and 333-megahertz version. The
chips will cost $139 and $179 respectively, said Piper
Jaffray analyst Ashok Kumar. Intel will also launch a
450-megahertz Pentium II the same day.
HP plans to incorporate the new chips into its business
computers in the Brio and Vectra lines starting at under
$1,000 while Dell Computer Corp. will use them to power
its OptiPlex business models and its consumer line,
Dimension.
''The first Celeron processor was a dog,'' said Nathan
Brookwood, an analyst at San Jose research firm Dataquest
Inc. ''It wasn't worth the money. This one is.''
Intel launched the Celeron line in April but the first
processor drew sneers from critics because the chipmaker
removed a secondary memory chip to cut costs,
compromising performance. The new Celerons, developed
under the code name of Mendocino but to be sold as the
Celeron-A, will contain the extra memory chip, otherwise
known as integrated cache memory, which allows speedier
operation. Intel sell both Celeron models initially, but will
phase out the older version after the Celeron-A takes hold,
analysts predicted.
The Celeron-A ''will give the Celeron line the kind of
performance it should have had from the beginning,'' said
Keith Diefendorff, editor of Microprocessor Report in
Sunnyvale.
Intel's miscalculation of the popularity of budget PCs
helped widen the door for competitors such as
Sunnyvale-based AMD. Intel's market share in the
sub-$1,000 market nose-dived to 35 percent in June from
72 percent a year ago while AMD sprinted ahead to grab a
51 percent share, according to research firm PC Data. The
budget PC arena, one of the fastest-growing segments of the
computer market, accounts for roughly 10 percent of all
computer sales.
With the release of Celeron-A, many analysts think Intel
has a chance to pounce back. Consumers are getting a good
deal with Mendocino, said Brookwood. The chip's
performance is very comparable to Intel's 333-MHz
Pentium II, which sold for nearly $800 early this year.
''The Mendocino is impressive,'' Brookwood said. ''Intel's
still late but they have time to catch the main attraction and
most of the party.''
The only potential obstacle to the Celeron line's success is
possibly the now-tainted name itself, several analysts
pointed out. ''The first Celeron system wasn't good at all --
and that's putting it mildly,'' said Matt Sargent, analyst with
ZD Market Intelligence. ''People have negative feelings
about the Celeron. It'll take some trust for them to go with
the line.''
Several analysts suggested it might have been better if Intel
renamed the line altogether.
Intel executives declined to discuss the new chip
Wednesday, but in earlier conversations, said they're
committed to the budget PC segment and plan to further
develop the Celeron line.
The budget PC market is ''a segment where we want to
deliver product, price and value,'' said Mike Aymar, Intel's
vice-president and general manager of product launch
operations. ''We want to earn the customers' choice.''
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