The week in review: Intel moves decisively
By: Kurt Oeler, CNET News.com
12/24/99 5:59:00 AM
Source: News.com
Closing a year which featured the settlement of a federal antitrust case, several product delays, and increased pressure from
competitors, Intel moved decisively to reassert its lead in the processor industry.
The chipmaking giant released two Pentium III processors ahead of its original schedule, reacting to the recent momentum of
rival Advanced Micro Devices, and set plans to accelerate its product schedule for 2000. Additionally, Intel reorganized itself to
create a division for wireless products, to better tap into one of technology's hottest sectors.
Faster
Monday, Intel unveiled 750- and 800-MHz versions of the Pentium III to reclaim the PC processor
speed crown from AMD. The advanced release wasn't an unqualified success, however. Few of the
new chips, originally scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2000, have been shipped to PC
makers, meaning consumers won't see many top-speed systems until next year.
The lead may also be tenuous, as AMD is expected to come out with an 800-MHz Athlon early
next month.
Intel's accelerated "road map" for 2000 calls for introducing 850- and 866-MHz Pentium IIIs in the
year's first quarter, and a landmark 1-GHz Pentium III in the fourth quarter. Celeron, the processor
for budget computers, will rise to speeds of 633 MHz. A processor with integrated graphics
capabilities, code-named Timna, will debut at the end of the third quarter at 600 MHz.
Meanwhile, the new Wireless Communications and Computing Group will manufacture and design
flash memory and digital signal processors, used in cell phones and other appliances. Intel has
made some of these types of chips for years, but organizing these into a unified group is intended
to concentrate resources in a more coherent manner. Acquisitions are likely. Intel is currently in the midst of a push to diversify
beyond its traditional base of PC and server microprocessors and sell more products into markets such as communications.
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