dan,
this is a threat to intel?
i don't think so.
this is not how to compete with intel!
i don't think amd is quite the threat you think it is.
if i recall correctly(i am on vacation and did not bring all my notes...maybe someone can help me here)as i recall we had a similar announcement by another of the athlon consortium last week.
amd rushed their products to market to upstage intel without adequate testing...or could it be that their labs are just not as good as intel's? either way, starting out your new world class product line with a recall sounds like a devastating event to me. an absolute catastrophe...you can be sure intel will capitalize on this.
amd may have just committed suicide.
can you imagine buying an athlon computer that won't start...then taking it back...and being told we hope to be able to fix it soon. pathetic.
how long would it take you to demand "intel inside"?
Micro-Star to Recall Motherboards for AMD's Athlon Chips
August 30, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Taiwan's Micron-Star International Co., Ltd. (MSI) will recall its motherboards for U.S.-based Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD)'s Athlon microprocessors.
A letter dated Aug. 21, to personal computer makers, which was cosigned by AMD and MSI, said that they found some of the motherboards equipped with AMD's chipsets lack compatibility and cannot fulfill PC cold starts.
Only motherboards with the MS-6167 model are now being marketed, according to MSI.
MSI will join with AMD to find solutions to the problems. They will soon start shipping modified motherboards. The modifications will be done by updating part of BIOS and replacing components, without replacing the chipsets.
Also, MSI said it will replace MS-6167 motherboards, which have already been shipped, with modified ones.
Users can distinguish between flawed motherboards and modified ones by the shape of a sticker that reads "for Japanese market" on each motherboard package. The former units have a star shape seal and the later units feature a round one.
PC retailers that have shipped products with the Athlon system will soon begin exchanges.
AMD hasn't disclosed details about the chipset-related problems. Unlike the contents of the cosigned letter to the PC makers, AMD's PR unit said that its chipsets have no defects, but there is a problem with incompatibility among components installed on the motherboards.
Also, MSI didn't arrange the components correctly on the motherboards and some mismanagement was evident, AMD said, underlining MSI's responsibility.
MSI explained that the combination of a 600MHz Atholn chip and AMD's chipset (production version C1 or C2) has a high probability of encountering problems.
AMD Japan Ltd. asked MSI and PC retailers to refrain from selling MS-6167 motherboards and products equipped with the motherboards until the modified ones are introduced.
Replacement work will be done by MSI, and AMD will share the replacement costs (US$8 a board).
Due to the problems of incompatibility among some components installed on the motherboards, AMD implemented customer service that's regarded as epoch-making. That's because it proposed replacing all the Athlon motherboards with modified ones.
(Nikkei Byte) |
