Gene,
As for launch of new memory, as I recall there were two delays in the i820 introduction. If memory serves, HP and Dell, etc., were expecting to intro products in June 1999. The launch was delayed again in September 1999 when the "three RIMM" issue popped up. I think they were finally intro'd in November 1999. As I posted earlier, I see similarities in the DDR launch.
You are correct in the delays of the RDRAM launch. RDRAM was finally launched in January 2000. The corresponding launch date for DDR was October 30, 2000. Those two dates match one another -- both represent the dates that Intel and AMD said you could start getting systems in the market (okay, in AMD's case they said that orders could be taken immediately and systems would be shipped in a couple of weeks). Corresponding to the RDRAM delays are the continual promises of DDR availability over the last two to three years (remember my posts detailing the "it's six months away" rhetoric for the last three years?) and the delays of those plans, culminating in the official launch in October. Three months into the launch of RDRAM, the major vendors had many more RDRAM-based systems available than DDR has available (we agree on this as a shortcoming in the DDR launch).
Intel is indeed the key, and with the delay (?) of their DDR support to the first part of 2002 (I believe's that's the latest schedule, but could be behind the news on that), they've given RDRAM an entire year to build support. The news earlier today -- more than half of Toshiba's production moving to RDRAM -- tell's quite a story.
Dave
p.s. I'd probably add that Via is key also. |
