Diamond Jim,
Intel better get its ACT together.
Now they are talking 850/866 by March 27 2000.
And the oems are having problems believing even that!!!
They are introducing a zillion part numbers between 600 and 866 over next few months.
They need to catch up or they will get the coup de grace - a 1Ghz plus Athlon in Q2. And intel will be introducing 600-667 part numbers - HOW EMBARRASING!!!!
OEMs wary of Intel's 'paper launches'
By Mark Hachman
Electronic Buyers' News
(02/11/00, 04:00:26 PM EDT)
As Intel Corp. prepares to deliver a series of technical presentations next week in Palm Springs, Calif., PC OEMs remain more concerned about issues of availability than raw performance.
Despite reports from Dell Computer Corp. and Gateway Inc. blaming a lack of certain Intel microprocessors for lower-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, sources at several PC manufacturers say the supply picture is improving. Still, with Intel scheduled to release a new processor clock-speed iteration almost every week through April, OEMs hope the company will make good on deliveries as it races toward the 1-GHz milestone.
Prices on the spot and OEM markets are returning to a supply/demand equation reminiscent of a typical bell-curve pattern: intense demand for the cheapest, low-end, high-volume 500- and 550-MHz Pentium IIIs, and supply constraints surrounding the fastest 800-MHz parts. Both factors have resulted in spot prices rising higher than Intel's contract prices.
Distributor NECX Direct LLC, Peabody, Mass., said 450-, 500-, and 550-MHz Pentium III processors averaged $10 more per unit in the past week. The list price for a 500-MHz Pentium III is $193 in 1,000-unit lots, while NECX reported a single-unit price of $302.50, a 57% premium.
?[The] 800's are brutal, very tight,? said a purchaser at one top-tier OEM. ?But 733-MHz and 667-MHz [chips] are loosening up a little bit. Five hundreds are the tightest, with the 550's right behind them.?
Several chip brokers suspect Intel is keeping supplies flowing to top-tier OEMs at the expense of lower-tier customers. An Intel spokesman said the Santa Clara, Calif., company will strive to keep its highest-volume customers happy, meeting their initial forecasts and building supply during the quarter.
?That's the way it's been the last couple of weeks,? he said. ?Unfortunately, nobody's going to get everything that they want, which is the reality in a period of tight supply.?
The availability issue is stretching lead times-even at leading PC makers. Sources at several OEMs attribute the phenomenon to what they're calling Intel's newfound tendency toward ?paper launches,? where the company announces a product in advance of its ability to meet demand. The most recent example was the December launch of the 800-MHz Pentium III, whose supplies are being entirely consumed by OEMs.
A sales agent for Compaq Computer Corp., Houston, said this week that the lead time for its 800-MHz Pentium III 5900T series is 45 to 50 days, while a 750-MHz option is out of stock. Compaq's 5900Z series, based on the 800-MHz Athlon processor from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., is available in 20 to 26 days, the agent said.
Meanwhile Dell, Round Rock, Texas, said the lead time for its 750-MHz Dimension XPS-T series is a week, climbing to eight to 14 days for its 800-MHz XPS-B, depending on the type of DRAM. Micron Electronics Inc. said the lead time for its 750-MHz Millennia is 10 to 12 days, although it hopes to pull that in to under a week. A 800-MHz Millennia requires three weeks to ship.
Intel released its latest roadmap last week (see chart) but said products could be rolled out even earlier, most likely to keep up with AMD. The Intel rival released an 850-MHz Athlon Friday, in advance of what sources say will be Intel's 850- and 866-MHz Coppermine launches March 27. |
