August 2000 Industry Update (from Realworldtech)
realworldtech.com
Some very interesting (and encouraging) information:
Chipset situation
"In fact, it appears that planned production numbers for the KT133 chipset will be sufficient to cover all of the planned production of Athlon processors for both Q3 and most of those for Q4. According to unofficial sources, volume will ramp up to as many as 2 million chipsets per month by Q4. The KM133 (integrated Savage4 3D chipset) is scheduled to ship in Q4, which should provide additional support and a low-end solution for the Duron processors."
"AMD is reportedly very close to releasing their 760 chipset, which adds DDR support and some other features to the 750 chipset. Spokespersons from Micron claimed that they believe DDR support for AMD processors in much farther along than is the case for Intel processors, and indicated a lot of enthusiasm for the AMD 760 chipset. The probable timeframe for products using this chipset is October/November. "
Mainboards
"One of the major issues that concern manufacturers, resellers and OEMs is the fact that there are no alternative chipsets for the Athlon platform. The PIII platform has several available chipsets from both Intel and VIA, which allows manufacturers a lot of flexibility in design and price points. For the Athlon platform, the only viable chipset is the KT133, so prices are locked within a fairly narrow range, with motherboards selling through official channels anywhere from $120 to $170."
"It appears that the AMD 760 chipset is very close to release, with motherboards anticipated early in Q4 - at least two months before DDR capable PIII boards. It could be a close call as to whether an ALi or AMD based board will be the first to appear. Chances of an SiS based Athlon board this year are very low, and a Micron based board is all but out of the question at this time."
Processors
"Until recently, Duron systems seemed to be non-existent. The reason appears to be due to lack of motherboard choices and motherboard component availability issues. Resellers I've spoken to indicate that while AMD processors in general are selling very well, the Duron doesn't appear to be as popular as anticipated because of motherboard prices. This could be an issue for the next several months, however if AMD actually does end up shipping all they have produced, the point is moot from AMD's end."
Dell
"In May, several contractors had reported that Dell was looking to build Duron systems - up to 200,000 of them. The apparent reason was the lack of availability of Intel processors, and Dell was looking at a contingency plan. These reports continued to come in throughout May and June. In July, the 'processor crunch' eased significantly, and PIII processors began to appear on resellers shelves - as well as in the inventory of OEMs. As a result, Dell reportedly shelved the plans for building Duron systems."
It's a good read.
Andreas |
