Intel likely to grant licenses to third-party DDR chipset vendors
.....However, an Intel spokesman said the company is considering
Pentium 4 chipset licenses with companies like VIA Technologies,
Acer Laboratories Inc., and Silicon Integrated Systems. "Such
licenses must make sense for Intel, and the details must be
carefully worked out," he said. Reminded that Intel a year ago
steadfastly claimed it would refuse to license the Pentium 4
interface to any third-party vendors, High responded, "market
conditions change, and Intel will adjust to the market."
Craig Barrett, Intel president, sidestepped a question whether
Intel's licensing agreement with Rambus precluded the company
from developing its own DDR chipset. "We have always said we
like Direct Rambus [memory] for the high-performance market.
Memory solutions for other [PC] price points will depend on the
market. Economics will dictate the memory choice, depending on
price and availability of chips," he said. "
We are not interested in hamstringing the market by pricing
[memory] outside of the pricing points the market wants." Asked
again if Intel would produce a DDR chipset of its own, Barrett
reiterated his previous answer.
(Emphasis mine). So it look's like they're becoming responsive instead of trying to drive the market.
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