Blow Boy - But AMD's strategy could backfire, according to one analyst. "I think Intel will stomp [AMD]," said analyst Dan Niles of Lehman Bros., adding that Intel has taken the lead in processor performance--and more.
"Basically, the Athlon [from AMD] has run out of gas, while the Pentium 4 still has a lot of headroom," Niles said. At present, Intel's fastest Pentium 4 processor runs at 2-GHz. In comparison, AMD's fastest Athlon is a 1.5-MHz device.
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Intel to focus on low-power, ease-of-use in PCs at Microprocessor Forum
By Semiconductor Business News
Oct 12, 2001 (7:42 PM)
URL: siliconstrategies.com
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Providing a sneak preview of its announcements at next week's Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, Intel Corp. hopes to reiterate and drive home its new philosophy at the event: megahertz no longer matters in PC computing.
Intel claims the company will not emphasize microprocessor performance at the conference, but rather it will focus on two new and key themes: low-power and ease-of-use in computing.
"Previously, we have focused on speed first and everything else second," according to a spokesman from Intel of Santa Clara. "We need to transition away from that," the spokesman said.
Intel will also discuss several technologies at the Microprocessor Forum:
*Intel is expected to give more details about its code-named Banias processor, a low-power device for the notebook PC market. Targeted for the 2003 time frame or sooner, the Banias is based on a Pentium 4 core, NetBurst architecture, and its so-called "micro-ops fusion" power-management technology.
*The company will talk about its mobile Pentium 4 processors. It is currently sampling a 2-GHz mobile Pentium 4 chip.
*It will present details about a next-generation, four- and eight-way Xeon chip, based on its recently-introduced "Hyper-Threading" architecture for servers. The technology enables a process to handle multiple tasks as if it was a dual-processor device.
*And Intel will also give more details on its network processor for 2.5- and 10-gigabit-per-second applications. The chip is based on its new, low-power StrongARM RSIC chip architecture, dubbed XScale.
The company attempted to drive the same points home at the recent Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Jose, but the message got lost in the shuffle, especially the "megahertz-no-longer-matters" theme. It didn't help matters when the chip giant flexed its muscles and demonstrated a 3.5-GHz Pentium 4 processor and a 2-GHz mobile version at IDF.
In the MPU marketing battle, however, AMD may have stole Intel's thunder. With the formal launch of its high-end Athlon XP microprocessor series, AMD this week announced an effort to literally change the way PC processors are gauged.
Instead of measuring PC central processing units by the megahertz of clock speeds--as has been the industry's practice for nearly two decades--AMD today said it was launching an initiative to develop a new reliable metric to judge CPU performance in standard personal computer applications Oct. 9 story ).
But AMD's strategy could backfire, according to one analyst. "I think Intel will stomp [AMD]," said analyst Dan Niles of Lehman Bros., adding that Intel has taken the lead in processor performance--and more.
"Basically, the Athlon [from AMD] has run out of gas, while the Pentium 4 still has a lot of headroom," Niles said. At present, Intel's fastest Pentium 4 processor runs at 2-GHz. In comparison, AMD's fastest Athlon is a 1.5-MHz device.
More importantly, Intel's Pentium 4 chip is gaining momentum in the market, thanks in part to the company's major price cuts, he said. After a slow start with the Pentium 4, Intel could make its internal projections of selling 20 million units in 2001, he added.
Not surprisingly, Intel has no plans to re-mark its chips in response to AMD's new and risky marketing strategy, the Intel spokesman said.
Copyright 2001 © CMP Media Inc. |
