Re: Too pessimistic. MSFT cannot let 3DNOW die that is about to have 30% PC market in 2h of 2001
I agree, absolutely. And the segment of the market (largely retail gamers) that pays attention to 3D-NOW/SSEI is roughly 50%-50% AMD-Intel. For most business apps, these extensions don't matter much, while for scientific apps, the raw floating point power of the Athlon makes it superior.
As Intel continues to aggressively fund Linux startups, about all Microsoft can do in return is to ensure that AMD remains well supported so that Intel can't dominate the market by simply bundling an OS and Office Suite with each processor. If Intel could kill off Microsoft (as far as Microsoft's present dominating position is concerned), Intel could gain a larger share of the total revenue stream the market makes available to system vendors.
In other words, with the wide range of systems currently available, computer purchases are (to a degree) characterized as "I think I can afford $1,200 worth of computer, what shall I get?" If the cost of the OS and office suite consists of $45 to Corel/WP Suite or Red Hat/Applixware instead of $195 to Microsoft, $150 remains on the table to be allocated to CPU, Motherboard, disk, etc. Knocking Microsoft out of its present position could easily add $25 or more to Intel's ASP - which would send $2.5 Billion straight to Intel's bottom line.
It's just possible that there is someone at Microsoft sharp enough to notice that Intel has been doing this. Has Microsoft ever shown any signs of being competitive when it comes to its core market?
:-)
Dan |
