bhagavathi, Re: Platform/architecture unification for scientific computing. compare to various architecture e.g. IBM,HWP,SUN,SGI,etc.
How many non-Intel platforms will be left in 2 or 3 years, at least from the CPU chip point of view? Take a look at your companies:
IBM keeps complaining of flat to down sales of all their non-Intel hardware, i.e., AS/400, RS/6000 and S/390. Only their Netfinity, and PCs, which are Intel based, looked good in their last quarter report. I'll take a look at their report today, with regard to which of their machines are selling, and which or not. Of course, they had the Y2 thing in Q499.
HP has said that they would eventually phase out their PA Risc chips in favor of IA-64, maybe when McKinley gets here.
SGI, who knows, they waffle in and out of proprietary and Intel based so much that I can't keep track of them any more. I wonder if their customers can.
Sun is the big joker in the deck, to me. Can they compete down the line with SPARC chips that have to be getting slower and slower vs. IA-64 (this is my opinion based on not much except the fact that Intel is pushed from a lot of directions to achieve faster and faster speeds. Sun? I don't know how much they care yet about chip speed).
Bottom line, can Intel grab the lion's share of the 64 bit market, like they did the 32 bit market? I'd say it's a pretty good bet.
Tony |
