Hi! I'm posting this to the Fool and SI for comments...I really need some help here...any EE's out there want to walk us throught this?
I've been doing some serious surfing the last couple of nights and fell into some interesting stuff about Real3d, Intel, Chips and Technologies and hopefully MCRE. MCRE never gets mentioned in these darned articles, but they may be one set of technology that is involved in the development of the i740 Accelerator Chip ( code named Auburn ) that looks to be the initial shot across the bow at other graphics chip makers. This looks to be a very serious shot too... What I will do is cut and paste a bunch of
stuff here tonight that was published previously and last week in EE Times and Computer Reseller. The URL is listed at the bottom of each article for your further use.
Earlier I conjectured that I thought Intel might be trying to corner the graphics market.....it turns out that I'm not alone. I believe now that is exactly what they are trying to do. The Chips and Technologies buyout by Intel 'may' have been driven in part by Chips ability to compete in 3d as Chips had an agreement with Real3d seperate from Intels.
Intels agreement with Chips and Tech. appears to have been for 2d chips only.
What we need to remember is that RTG technology is being utilized in the new generation of chips comming from Real3d.
We need confirmation that RTG technology is included in the i740....anybody???
If it is; we somehow have got to find some way of figuring out what this could be worth to MCRE. Somehow....
Read on....I plan on snips from 4 articles tonight to bring you up to date on what the manufacturers and resellers are anticipating ( talking about ).....we know MCRE and RTG is in here to some degree....the $64,0000 question is how deep are they, and what type of revenues might we expect.
....this first one is a bit old ( late last year ) but will serve as a good starting point.....I only hope that computer magic will justify left!
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Intel's Next Target:3-D Graphics Mkt. -- Auburn Accelerator Aimed
At Klamath
By Ismini Scouras
New York - As the Klamath microprocessor generation ramps up next year, Intel Corp. could put
a stranglehold on graphics chip players, microprocessor makers, and add-in-card vendors with the
introduction of a graphics accelerator chip for Klamath, sources close to the company said.
A new PC platform will be formed from the combination of Klamath - a one-chip implementation
of the Pentium Pro expected to roll out in the first quarter of 1997 - and the graphics accelerator,
code-named Auburn, expected to debut next summer. The Auburn-Klamath platform will hit the
market in the third quarter of next year at twice the performance and nearly half the price point of
competing products, sources said.
'[Intel] will replicate the unit market share in their CPU business, which stands at more than
85%,' predicted Ashok Kumar, semiconductor analyst with Southcoast Capital Corp., Austin,
Texas. 'All of the graphics vendors won't have a chance to address the Klamath market - their
market share will be jammed at the Pentium level.'
'Intel has changed the rules of the game,' Kumar said. OEMs will require a platform-based
strategy, not a chip-based strategy.
The Auburn-Klamath platform will be Intel's first chip set to support the Intel-controlled
Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) bus specification. Intel is not providing AGP support on the
'Socket 7' (321-pin P55C multimedia-enhanced) Pentium platforms, or its 'Socket 5' (320-pin)
Pentium chips.
But graphics vendors are gearing up products to support Socket 7 platforms, which, sources said,
could experience a short-lived product cycle.
'The market will transition much faster to Klamath,' Kumar said, because of its performance.
Also, while there is no upgrade path for the Pentium P55C Socket 7-class systems, Intel will have
an upgrade strategy for the Klamath, sources said.
For business users, Intel will even provide a chip set with dual-chip capability so that when
multithreaded applications are performed, the system's life can be extended.
Another reason why graphics chip vendors will be at a big disadvantage centers around Intel's
relationship with Lockheed Martin Corp. The Auburn 3-D graphics accelerator will use 3-D
technology from Lockheed Martin and 2-D graphics logic from Chips and Technologies Inc.,
sources said.
Lockheed Martin has two patents that are major building blocks for 3-D architecture:trilinear
filtering and mips mapping. As graphics images are expanded, trilinear filtering assists the
graphics controller in providing better quality.
'Intel can use these as legal entry barriers against the competition,' Kumar said, since other
graphics chip makers will have to license the patents to get in on the Klamath market.
'There is a concern among some of the graphics vendors that the same sort of thing that happened
to the chip-set vendors will happen to them,' said Dean McCarron, analyst with Mercury
Research, Scottsdale, Ariz. 'If it sells well, it could alter the competitive landscape,' he said.
Mips mapping is the highest-quality texture-mapping technology presently available in the market,
analysts said. Graphics vendors haven't gotten to the point of having either trilinear technology or
mips mapping, they said.
A spokesperson for Intel pointed out that the company still has to prove its graphics technology on
its own merits, and will still be competing against companies that have been in the graphics
business for a long time.
Intel is encouraging graphics chip makers to support AGP, just as it encouraged core-logic
chip-set vendors to support the PCI-bus architecture for Pentium. However, Intel's PCI chip-set
quality was far superior to competitors', enabling the company to garner 85% to 90% of the
market, Kumar said.
'It's not the chip-set wars all over again,' said Mike Nell, vice president of business development
at S3 Inc., Santa Clara, Calif. 'We know what AGP is, and we are designing chips that support
it. We will be testing chips with Klamath as soon as Klamath is available.'
Intel has created a specification called Graphics Controller '97, which establishes the minimum
performance level for AGP interface products, including a minimum resolution of 640 x 480 x 16
bits per pixel and 30 million pixels/s.
The Auburn graphics accelerator will offer twice the performance of the specifications outlined in
GC '97.
Both Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Cyrix Corp. could also be at a big disadvantage unless
they can compete by drumming up R&D dollars and working with chip-set vendors to bring AGP
performance to their Socket 7-equivalent platforms, sources said.
<<<<<<<<snip>>>>>>>
techweb.com
================================================
OK......so the Auburn graphics accelerator is comming out.... then Intel decides to buy Chips and Technologies...the stakes look to be increasing.....still no mention of MCRE/RTG...it's driving me wild! Also, we are dealing with platforms rather than just chips: I'm trying to snip enough to avoid copyroght problems so bear with me please :)
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Chips and Tech acquisition provides 3-D, notebook technologies --
Intel spends $420M to gain stake in graphics
Santa Clara, Calif. - Sealing its bid to become the leading force in PC graphics, Intel Corp. last
week offered $420 million for Chips and Technologies Inc., the leading vendor of
notebook-graphics accelerator chips.
The acquisition strengthens Intel's hand in defining notebook computers. It also provides
immediate entry into the port-able graphics market-where Chips did $168 million last year-as well
as the 2-D and video technology Intel needs to compete in the desktop space. The merger also
gives Intel design, support and sales clout to back up its plan to push desktop 3-D graphics later
this year.
<<<<<<<<<snip>>>>>>>>
In an interview with EE Times, Pat Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's
desktop-products group, called the Chips acquisition a way 'to make sure that Intel can deliver on
the promises' it made for visual computing. At Visual Computing Day in March, it laid out its
plans for that platform, including bringing the full range of graphics, video and imaging to both
desktop and mobile customers. He also described the mobile-computing market as increasingly
important for Intel, one that is becoming 'a larger percentage' of the chip giant's business.
Portables expertise
Intel didn't have a graphics effort for mobile computers before this acquisition, but was working
on desktop graphics.
In April 1996, Intel began jointly developing a 3-D graphics accelerator for desktop PCs and
workstations with Chips and Technologies and Lockheed Martin Inc.'s (Orlando, Fla.) Real3D.
The Intel 740, as the accelerator is known, will connect to the accelerated graphics port (AGP) on
Intel's next-generation Pentium II core logic. It will combine scaled-down Real3D graphics
hardware with 2-D acceleration from Chips and Technologies.
Countering speculation that buying Chips is a sign that Intel has had to delay its 740 for lack of
engineering resources, Gelsinger said the accelerator is 'on schedule to meet the original goal of
being in production in the second half of 1997.' Meanwhile, he said Chips is going ahead with
plans to develop a mobile AGP product.
'It boils down to a question of Intel saying, 'If you guys [in the graphics business] can't do it,
we'll do it for you,' said Dan Kleskin, semiconductor analyst with the investment bank
Robertson, Stephens & Co. (San Francisco). 'Intel's major focus through this acquisition and a
lot of other things it's done through investments is to enable markets.'
That approach got Intel into the motherboard and core-logic business a few years ago, Kleskin
said. To keep PC demand healthy, Intel has to keep PC technology advancing, and it will take the
reins itself to ensure 'that it is done with enough muscle behind it,' he said.
John N. Latta, president of 4th Wave Inc. (Alexandria, Va.), a technology consulting firm that
covers 3-D, virtual reality and multimedia, said the acquisition puts Intel in a strong position to
compete with all other major graphics-card companies: S3 Inc., ATI Technologies Inc., Matrox,
Cirrus Logic Inc. and others. 'The combination of 3-D technology from Lockheed Martin and
C&T's [Chips and Technologies] strengths makes Intel immediately a major force in the market,'
said Latta.
Geoff Ballew of Dataquest said that with the acquisition of Chips, 'Intel's likelihood of
succeeding in the graphics market just went up a couple of points.'
Ballew said the 1996 market for mobile graphics chips totaled $288 million. Chips and
Technologies garnered 46.6 percent of that, or $134 million. Other players include Cirrus
(Fremont, Calif.), Trident Microsystems Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.) and startup
NeoMagic.Corp. (Santa Clara, Calif.)
Linley Gwennap, editor of Microprocessor Report (Sebastopol, Calif.), said Intel may have
purchased Chips to help sell its upcoming i740 or Auburn 3-D accelerator, co-designed with
Chips and Lockheed, and to aggressively move notebook graphics forward. 'Intel has no sales
force that is up to speed on graphics and they lack contacts with the graphics-card companies,' he
said. 'I think Intel is also getting more interested in trying to grow the market for notebook
computers.'
<<<<<<<<snip>>>>>>>>>
You can reach this article directly:
techweb.com
================================================
There is more.........
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Consolidation Hits Chip Market -- Intel grabs the top spot in mobile
graphics chip arena with buyout
By Kelly Spang
Santa Clara, Calif. -- Seemingly out of nowhere, Intel Corp. is now the most dominant player in
the mobile graphics chip market.
A week ago, the Santa Clara chip maker was not even on the radar screen when it came to
graphics accelerators for portable computers.
<<<<<snip>>>>>>
The net effect of the Intel purchase is a more competitive landscape among graphics makers and a
further assertion of Intel's dominance as a chip maker, said analysts and competitors.
'Intel is trying to get design expertise that it thinks can further enhance graphics,' said Tony
Massimini, chief of technology for Semico Research Corp., Phoenix. 'Increased performance of
the platform is what keeps volumes [up], so it is important for Intel to keep overall system
performance constantly improving. That is what gives Intel more influence.'
The lure of San Jose, Calif.-based Chips and Technologies is its designs of notebook graphics
accelerators and its leading-edge technology. Among its portfolio is its HiQColor technology,
designed to brighten color and sharpen images on low-cost, flat-panel displays, and its 64-bit
HiQVideo processor, which combines video and 2-D graphics acceleration.
Nearly 100 percent of the company's focus is targeted to the portable market, so there is no
overlap with Intel's graphics initiative at the desktop. In conjunction with Real 3D, a division of
Lockheed Martin Corp., Intel and Chips and Technologies developed the I740 graphics
accelerator, code-named 'Auburn,' for the desktop, which will support the Accelerated Graphics
Port. This chip is in samples, sources said.
To date, however, Chips and Technologies has not introduced a 3-D accelerator for the mobile
market. Company executives expect to begin sampling a 2-D/3-D accelerator later this year and
begin shipping in volume by the first quarter of 1998.
By tweaking graphics accelerators to better work with its MMX technology, Intel could continue
to drive the demand for system upgrades to get the latest and greatest graphics performance,
<<<<<snip>>>>
since graphics chips are not on the same level as other system components in that they can really
sway the final cost. On average, a graphics chip costs about $20-peanuts to OEMs in comparison
to the cost of the processor or system memory.
You can reach this article directly:
techweb.com
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And some reactions with mabey a little more talk about what this coulsd mean to the graphics industry:
Joined at the chip -- Intel grabs graphics co.
By Mark Hachman
Silicon Valley- Proving once and for all that it intends to be a serious player in the graphics
market, Intel Corp. has agreed to buy Chips and Technologies Inc. for $397 million.
If approved by government regulators, the deal will enable Intel to supply nearly all of the
high-value chips needed to build a PC. And it will give Chips and Technologies access to Intel's
formidable sales and marketing clout.
Most market watchers, however, preferred to focus on the implications for other graphics chip
manufacturers, which could quickly find themselves pushed to the sidelines, they warn.
'For years, the graphics companies have worried that Intel might muscle into their territory,' said
Dean McCarron, principal at Mercury Research, Scottsdale, Ariz. 'Intel's threat to control the
graphics market just went from a big question mark to maximum risk.'
Executives at Intel and Chips and Technologies were quick to say that the merger should have little
immediate effect on buyers. Chips and Technologies will keep both its name and product line, and
its development programs will also be left intact.
But Intel is making no secret of its intention to take the lead in graphics chips, which it regards as
a crucial building block for high-performance PCs.
<<<<<snip>>>>>>.
For its money, Intel will get a company that commands
approximately 50% of the notebook graphics controller market, according to Jon Peddie
Associates, Tiburon, Calif.
<<<<snip>>>>
For their part, Chips and Technologies executives said the acquisition is a natural extension of the
contract both parties had signed separately with Real3D, a division of Lockheed Martin, to
develop a next-generation graphics processor, code-named Auburn.
<<<<<<<<snip>>>>>>>>
the discussion began about a
month ago, and we realized it represented a good opportunity for us.'
But some analysts privately wondered whether the company had much choice. 'If Intel makes up
its mind to do something, you can either jump on or get the hell out of the way,' one analyst said.
Speculation about Intel's motives was also fueled by the fact that the company has not yet
provided performance data or a release date for the Auburn chip.
'I can't prove this, but I think Intel's sandbagging the market,' one analyst said. 'Auburn is
going to blow the market away with its performance, and no one knows it yet.'
<<<<<<snip>>>>>>
'But let's face it,' Rahmat said. 'The real problem in 3-D graphics isn't the hardware, but the
software drivers that go with it. And Intel's expertise hasn't been proven in software.'
You can reach this article directly:
techweb.com
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Like I have said before....I DON'T KNOW SQUAT ABOUT COMPUTERS!!
I need some help with some answers. I was just researching a nice little company that produced 'enabling technology for visual computing' it all sounded inoccuous enough and suddenly....800 pound gorillas are working together and buying up smaller companies over technology that little MCRE/RTG !!MAY!! be involved in. Not knowing anything about computers has really hamstrung me on this one....frankly I hadn't planned on going this far with the whole process, but it got me hooked......Pigboy! We need you he
re....Is something up here? Something big? Am I making connections with companies and products in my head that just don't work? It is probably way to early to comment, but......... what might it mean to MCRE?
One other thing.....the last comment in the last article.... If software is the weak link and MCRE is a 3d software provider has the market for 3d software been poised to launch with the Auburn/ Pentium II platform?
Can somebody take this a bit further? Can it be taken further without resorting to pure speculation?
Still Humble in the Presence of Foolishness,
Rick Carlin
Oregonman3 ( 2 on AOL )
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