"I tend to doubt this though given the number of slips on the 3500."
If what the article says is true, then the 3500 probably isn't "slipping" at all. According to the article, 3dfx's strategy is to expand the life-cycle of Voodoo3. Delaying the launch of the 3500 is probably part of this.
A delay of 3-4 months from NVIDIA is interesting. 3dfx can take advantage of the delay in several ways:
1) Release earlier than the competition. There would definitely be benefits from a new release, mostly in the form of a surge of new retail sales. Of course, this would also devastate Voodoo3 sales.
2) 3dfx can choose to release their product later and possibly add a few unexpected features. I like this option better for a couple of reasons. First of all, option#1 is mainly trading tomorrows revenues today. An earlier shipment of the next product does NOT put them in any closer technologically to the product after that. ie. If the next-next product is scheduled for September of 2000 we'd have to wait almost a year before 3dfx would come out with anything new. Also, an enhancement of the features of the next product may close more OEM deals.
Finally, I believe it is good strategy for 3dfx to put just enough features on their technology to edge out the competition (for their mainstream product that is). TNT2 is not twice as good as TNT or 50% better than Voodoo3. The prices, however, don't indicate such. Voodoo3 with 32 MB, 32 bit rendering, and AGP4x (which IMHO isn't rocket science) would be dominating the OEM market right now instead of TNT2. This doesn't mean I don't think 3dfx shouldn't go for the high-end. Of course they should, but they should for adulation and reviews...not sales. They should be selling the Dodge Viper even though they know the consumer is buying the Neon.
"Maybe if AMD was working with them they might be come up with something for Athlon but I still doubt it. "
We know 3dfx has been collaborating with AMD. So we have a CPU company and a graphics company making something together. I doubt, given the trend in the marketplace, it is anything other than integrated graphics for their core logic chips.
Pat |
