Mason, this is starting to resemble a "the chicken or the egg" discussion. Intel knows that to expand its production , it has to open new markets, get people to buy computers that never had them before. Considering all the folks that don't have one, all across the world, there is a vast market waiting to be tapped. I agree that the old paradigm was more speed for the same price. The new paradigm is more speed for lower price, and a broader range of products to appeal to broader audiences, at least in the microprocessor market.
Most chips aren't microprocessors, they are things like DRAM, where performance improvements have been quite slow. In this case the move to smaller architecture almost entirely driven by the manufacturers need to make them cheaper. This is a huge market, and when their Fabs move to 0.25 and below we will see the big earnings increases for Cymer. Microprocessors get all the publicity, but this is the big market. Will Rambus chips need .25 micron or below???
good investing..... |
