Thursday September 2 12:16 PM ET
Rambus Shares Fall On Intel Chip Decision
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of chip technology company Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS - news) fell 11
percent in trading Thursday, extending losses sparked Wednesday by Intel Corp.'s (Nasdaq:INTC - news)
decision to slow its planned adoption of a Rambus technology, analysts said.
Rambus traded as low as $83.50, down $11.75. The shares have lost 19 percent of their value in two days
and are now down nearly 30 percent from their 52-week high of $117.50.
Analysts say the drop is a direct response to Intel's announcement that it will roll out another generation of an existing memory chipset,
known as PC-133 DRAM, before shifting to a new family based on Rambus technology. Intel, the world's leading maker of
semiconductors, is Rambus's main customer.
''Intel's originally proposed next step was Rambus DRAM, or RDRAM,'' said an analyst who asked not to be named. DRAM is the
basic memory chip. The Rambus technology boosts memory performance.
''Now there's been some delays in ramping up RDRAM, so as an intermediate step there is PC-133 DRAM,'' the analyst said.
Spokesmen for Mountain View, Calif.-based Rambus were not immediately available for comment.
Intel said it still intends to use Rambus technology and that PC-133 is an interim step.
Analysts said they were not surprised by Intel's decision. They said they knew Intel was experiencing delays in making the Rambus
technology work on Intel systems.
They said Intel told the Intel Developer Forum in Palm Springs, Calif., Wednesday that the PC-133 interim technology will be used only
to ease a transition to RDRAM. Intel plans to roll out the PC-133 chipset in the first half of next year, they said.
Intel shares hit an intraday high on the news Wednesday and closed up $1.25 at $83.44. The shares were down 50 cents at $82.94
Thursday morning. |
