Paul, Intel investors, pretty good article interviewing Paul Otellini. Some quotes:
The new platform (Pentium 4) and a new OS (Windows XP) is incentive for people to upgrade. There's something like 50 million Pentium IIs out there under 500MHz and another 50 million Pentium IIIs at 500MHz. You've got a potential for upgrades that hasn't existed for a number of years.
How important is Itanium to Intel?
Incredibly important. It is our desire to move it into the very highest ends of enterprise computing. You've seen essentially every major computer company in the world, except one, firmly committed to it.
=========================================================================================
The Intel insider
We all heard what you said during Intel's Q2 financial analyst conference call: "We will do what we need to do to transition from the Pentium III to the Pentium 4." What did you mean by that?
Our entire business model is predicated on displacing our older product line with newer products. We have been doing this as a company for over 30 years and in the PC arena for 20 years. We will use our design, marketing and manufacturing assets to make the transition from Pentium III to Pentium 4 happen as quickly as possible.
With price cuts in effect and the 845 chipset shipping relatively soon, do you feel Pentium 4 is about to come into its own?
It's already in major volumes. We said the volumes doubled again this quarter. We'll just continue to grow over the year. The industry now is very much a price point displacement model. If you hit the right price point…people will always take better technology. The new platform (Pentium 4) and a new OS (Windows XP) is incentive for people to upgrade. There's something like 50 million Pentium IIs out there under 500MHz and another 50 million Pentium IIIs at 500MHz. You've got a potential for upgrades that hasn't existed for a number of years.
Pentium 4 will hit 2GHz very soon. What do you expect people to do with processors of that speed? What do you think when you hear people say that you don't need that kind or processing power?
I have literally had that same question asked of me for the last 25 years. I think that's bunk. Would you be happy with your 286 or your 386 or your Pentium 100? No. The beauty of the industry is that the software grows to consume the MIPS that are available. They demand more MIPS to get similar performance as the previous generation. Ask anyone who's doing advanced work--photography or ripping CDs or home videos--and they'll tell you, 'Give me more MIPS.' I have a 20-year-old son. This is how he spends his time. He's always bugging me for a faster computer.
What will the PC look like in five years, aside from faster processors?
It will be smaller, faster and wirelessly connected. Always connected--there will be a seamless connection for the devices you use with it (such as PDAs.)
What about servers? You must have breathed a sigh of relief when Itanium finally "shipped" How important is Itanium to Intel?
Incredibly important. It is our desire to move it into the very highest ends of enterprise computing. You've seen essentially every major computer company in the world, except one, firmly committed to it. As you get that kind of commonality, the software environment tends to follow very rapidly. In this space, it's not just about the microprocessor; it's about the capability of the platform. That is jelling now. I think it gets more interesting next year, when you see second-generation (McKinley) systems, especially coupled with technologies such as Infiniband. It becomes very interesting in terms of the ability to run every aspect of computing in this architecture.
How did you arrive at the recent deal with Compaq, which plans to phase out its Alpha chip in favor of Itanium?
Suffice it to say that doing proprietary microprocessors is a bloody expensive business. Doing any microprocessor is a bloody expensive business. If you're amortizing that cost over a few units, it's even more prohibitive. Differentiation is not in the processor. Compaq came to the same conclusion that HP did--which is that I can use my engineers to do other stuff because Intel can do (the chips) better and cheaper.
Where is Intel going with its mobile processors? My sense is that Intel will begin segmenting that market even more, starting in 2003 with the successor to the Pentium III-M. Will we see a new Pentium brand at that point?
It's too soon to predict that. There will be no brand before there is time. I do think the trend is correct in that we're now developing specific products for mobile. Ultimately, the ability to build in seamless connectivity and to have very low power consumption are the vectors that we have the team on today.
Realizing that decisions on adopting technology must be made years ahead, we'll just cut to the chase on this one. Was Rambus a mistake?
Hindsight is wonderful. The technology is not problematic. The technology is still the best technology out there for showing off the microprocessor. The problem is the cost structure. The cost structure never met the goals we had. I look back and say for the time, I really think it was the right technology.
What's the future for the Architecture Group?
Some analysts have suggested it would become a cash cow of sorts for Intel, meaning that it will provide steady revenues for the company but grow at a much slower pace than other businesses. Our goal is to grow as quickly as the computing markets we serve will allow and to grow our revenue per computer over time. I absolutely do not view Intel Architecture Group as a cash cow. We are investing to grow our business and capture new revenues.
Following up, has Intel's overall Internet building blocks approach been sidetracked by the lousy semiconductor market of late? Any changes to that strategy in the works?
There have been no changes to our fundamental strategies.
What's next, Paul? Are you Craig Barrett's successor?
You'll have to ask Craig and the board. I don't think I'll get a vote. Craig has said very skillfully and elegantly that there are a number of senior managers at Intel that have the potential to move up.
news.cnet.com
Tony |
