VIA's Technologies CEO Says PC Outlook Remains Bright
October 24, 2001 (TAIPEI) -- W.C. Chen, CEO of VIA Technologies Inc., said the outlook for the personal computer market remains bright although it is not clear when the recession will end.
Chen said that personal computers will be more highly valued because they offer a connection with the Internet as compared to their pure computing merits. He said that VIA has invested substantial resources in the development of connection technology. Also, he noted that VIA has cooperated with 3Com Corp. for connection technology, and that he expects similar cooperation in the future.
Chen pointed out that VIA had initially been daunted by the thought of competing with Intel Corp., but had soon overcome its fears as it became familiar with Intel, and is now confident that it can compete with Intel.
VIA decided recently to go head-to-head with Intel by filing a counter-accusation after Intel accused it of patent infringements.
Intel had filed a complaint against VIA in the U.S. District Court in Delaware, alleging that the Taiwanese company had violated five Intel patents. Intel said the company had decided to take the step after it obtained samples of VIA's new chipset, which can be run with the Intel Pentium 4 processor.
A chipset incorporates a microprocessor, and is a vital component in a personal computer. Due to VIA's proven chipset development abilities and previous market development experience, Intel has been reluctant to authorize VIA to produce chipsets related to the firm's newly launched Pentium 4 (P4) CPUs. VIA earlier made profits by putting out chipsets compatible with Intel's Pentium III microprocessor, and Intel suspects that VIA is now trying to pull off a similar move with its latest chipset. VIA started shipping its controversial P4X266 chipset for the Pentium 4 in mid-August.
Intel's Asia-Pacific region president Chen Chun-shen stressed earlier that only three Taiwan companies, including Acer Laboratories Inc. (ALI), ADI Corp., and Silicon Integrated Systems Corp. (SiS), had been authorized by Intel to manufacture and sell P4-related DDR chips. The company warned that those companies without Intel authorization would face legal action. Intel has now carried out its promise.
With the aim of broadening its market share, Intel slashed the prices of its various P4 CPU models, bringing their price levels even lower than those for P3 models.
Industry analysts expect P4 computers to account for 60 percent to 70 percent of all PCs by September 2002, and it is therefore important for chipset makers to develop the market soon.
Facing the prospect of a long legal battle with Intel, VIA brought forward its timetable for marketing its P4X266 chipsets, with the first shipments set for October. By getting its new chipsets to the market quickly, VIA hopes to put pressure on a reluctant Intel to enter into authorization negotiations.
(Commercial Times, Taiwan) |
