Some more design wins for Intel (not high volume but good for some extra mileage from some of their older fabs)
August 13, 2001
Dear VersaLogic Customer:
This letter is being sent to alert you to an important change in the long-term
availability of several VersaLogic products. Please read it carefully.
AMD, the supplier of CPU chips that are used on many of our products, has
notified us that they plan to re-tool the production line that currently
produces 486, 586 and K6 CPU chips. AMD needs to use their Fab 25 facility
to produce a different line of products and will stop production on these
CPU chips on June 28, 2002. The CPU chips produced by this facility are
used in our VSBC-2, VSBC-6, VSBC-7, Panther, VL-686-2, and VL-586-1 products.
This decision by AMD, with whom we have worked closely for many years,
is a major blow to the embedded computer market. It is very surprising
that their long-standing dedication to the embedded market has taken such
an abrupt turn. As recently as October 2000 they announced new processors
(the K6-2E+ and K6-IIIE+) and assured us of their continuing long-term
support for the embedded market.
Please note that this decision by AMD does not mean that they will immediately
halt production or that these CPU chips will be in short supply. Normal
production of these chips is scheduled to continue through June 2002. Last-time-buy
orders can be placed in June for delivery of the chips in late 2002 and
early 2003.
VersaLogic management has been hearing rumors of this possible change (various
versions of it) over the last few months and has been working closely with
AMD to avoid this radical change in their direction. We prepared for the
possibility that their decision would ultimately be to issue an end-of-life
notice. Now that the decision has been made, our focus will be on assisting
our customers with planning and migration issues over the next 12-24 months.
Although this change is not immediate, each customer must look at the long
term impact that this announcement will have on their product usage. In
some cases this will mean placing an end-of-life purchase order with VersaLogic
to continue delivery of the current product even after the AMD chips have
been discontinued. For others it may involve qualifying new products, or
using Intel Tillamook versions of our current products, for the current
application. Tillamook versions of most impacted products will be available
before year end. For further information please see the roadmap and migration
information on our web site at versalogic.com
or contact us directly at info@versalogic.com.
Again, this change is not immediate, but planning steps should be taken
now to assure a smooth transition in the future. We stand ready to support
you as needed to make this transition as easy and painless as possible.
Sincerely,
Len Crane
President
P.S. Please excuse any duplicate copies of this message that you receive.
We are making every effort to get this important information to the proper
contacts within each organization in a timely fashion. |
