VIA is beginning to look like the AMD of 2001; both AMD and Intel need to watch their backs!
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Via Plans to Boost Speeds of Processors by Year-End
Hong Kong, March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Via Technologies Inc., Taiwan's largest chip designer, said that by year-end it will introduce more powerful versions of its computer processors that compete with Intel Corp. in PCs selling for $500 and less.
The processor -- codenamed Ezra -- will compete with Intel's Celeron chips, the fastest of which currently operate at 633 megahertz. A higher megahertz speed indicates a processor can handle more tasks, called instructions, in a given period.
``Ezra will operate at 1 gigahertz by the fourth quarter and will reach 1.2 gigahertz by the first quarter of next year,'' Charlton Chen, Via's manager of investor relations, said at an investment conference in Hong Kong.
Intel has shifted development efforts to the market for processors used in PCs selling for more than $1,000 to compete with rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc., analysts said.
``The low end is not where Intel is focused,'' said Daniel Niles, an analyst with Lehman Brothers Inc. in San Francisco. ``The most profitable sector is at the high end.''
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Via's Chen said the market for low-cost PCs is growing faster than others in the computer business. Via earlier this week introduced its C3 processor, which it says will make personal computers cheaper and lighter.
The new processor generates less heat, allowing computer makers to eliminate cooling fans in both desktop and notebook PCs, Via said. Doing without a fan reduces the demand for power, thereby increasing battery life and cutting material costs.
Eliminating the fan from a notebook PC also helps computer manufacturers make slimmer products, a key selling point for portable electronics products.
While Transmeta Corp.'s Crusoe processor also eliminates the need for a fan, it's not fully compatible with existing processors. PC makers have to redesign their products to accommodate the chip.
The C3 is about half the size of a comparable Intel Celeron or AMD Duron chip, which means Via can make nearly twice as many chips from one silicon wafer, cutting costs.
Via, which started making processors early last year, will need to win orders from leading computer companies to establish the chip and cut production costs. Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Intel's other main rival, took more than a decade to sell its chips to Compaq Computer Corp., the biggest computer company.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the largest chip contractor, will make the new processor for Via.
Via shares fell NT$3, or 0.8 percent, to NT$353.
Mar/30/2001 10:53 ET
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