Hi all; EE-Times reports on DDR vs RDRAM:
Memory makers tout DDR at Via gathering
Mike Clendeninm, EE Times 02/06/01
The battle over DRAM architectures will amount to little more than a skirmish this year, according to the memory and chip set suppliers gathered Tuesday (Feb. 6) at the DDR Summit Conference. Double-data-rate (DDR) DRAM will dominate and Rambus will be relegated to a sliver on pie charts that detail market share, they said.
That prediction is to be expected from the conference, sponsored by Via Technologies Inc., a leading proponent of the DDR memory standard. The one-day event attracted more than 40 motherboard, module and memory makers, as well as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. And while Rambus DRAM was initially a de facto taboo topic, it was evident that industry leaders were once again validating the shift toward DDR as the most viable main memory standard in the cutthroat DRAM market.
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Despite different memory architectures competing for market share this year against the backdrop of a general slowdown, major DRAM suppliers Micron, Samsung and Hyundai have indicated that this is the year volume production of DDR DRAMs will take off. Bringing DDR DRAM pricing in line with SDRAM — expected to happen by the second half — was the main obstacle to sparking volume production, memory makers said. The new generation of DRAMs "have never been accepted until they were sold at the same price as the previous generation," said Jeff Mailloux, director for DRAM marketing at Micron Technology Inc. "So while volume does drive cost, pricing drives volume. And Micron is looking to accelerate DDR adoption by making sure it's at parity as quickly as possible."
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Nevertheless, Kang [Jon Kang, senior vice president for product planning at Samsung Electronics] noted that once Intel and third-party chip set vendors provide DDR chip sets, Rambus will be undermined in the mainstream, high-volume segment of the PC market, because the DDR cost structure will be lower. "Samsung should enjoy the Rambus business this year because it is probably the only year that they will enjoy it," said Farhad Tabrizi, vice president of worldwide marketing at Hyundai. "Once you ramp up very fast, you'll have to ramp down very fast," he said.
eet.com
-- Carl |
