greg - Re: "AMD hones K-6 Article not found error message on URL. "
Here's the Whole Enchilada - enjoy it!
Paul
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techweb.com
Supply Still A Problem As AMD Hones K6
(01/12/98; 9:59 a.m. EST)
By Mark Hachman, Electronic Buyers' News
Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] is now shipping 0.25-micron
versions of its K6 microprocessor. But unless you work for
Compaq or IBM, you won't be able to buy any -- at least for now.
In what has become a refrain, AMD last week trumpeted its flashy
new process, then mumbled a limited supply prevented the
company from releasing products for general sale that use the
technology.
Not to be outdone, Cyrix said it turned out its first chips made on
the company's pilot production line in the Santa Clara, Calif., fab
owned by its new parent, National Semiconductor.
Neither of AMD's two 0.25-micron chips -- the first 266-MHz K6 for
desktop PCs, coupled with the first notebook K6, a 233-MHz
version -- are available for sampling, nor has the company
released any prices. In addition, the processors are being
manufactured at AMD's Submicron Development Center (SDC) in
Sunnyvale, Calif., which is primarily used as a research fab, rather
than a production facility.
"There was a reason we had to announce the process without
[formally launching] the new processors," said Byran Longmire, K6
marketing manager at AMD's Computational Products Group, in
Sunnyvale. "And that, of course, was supply."
Longmire and an AMD spokesman both said the supply of the
new parts would move to AMD's main Fab 25 in Austin, Texas,
once the company converts its lines from 0.35 micron to 0.25
micron, a transition analysts have described as perhaps the most
critical production shift in the company's history.
The SDC produces a "couple thousand" wafers per week, split
equally between preproduction output and production, according
to a company spokesman. However, all that is allocated to the
K6.
For its part, Cyrix has no plans to manufacture chips on its pilot
line in Santa Clara, Calif., the chief purpose of which is to develop
new process technology, said Robert Maher, vice president of
engineering at Cyrix, in Richardson, Texas.
The conversion to 0.25-micron is slightly ahead of schedule,
Maher said. The company said it hopes to retool its South
Portland, Maine, plant by mid-1998. Cyrix will maintain its
relationship with IBM Microelectronics, in Fishkill, N.Y., to produce
686MX processor wafers. With IBM, the 686MX capacity should
enable 10 million units to be produced in 1998.
Although analysts remain wary about whether AMD's
announcement represents a turning point for the company, they
took heart from the decision by both Compaq and IBM to embrace
the K6. Compaq said last week that it will use the older
0.35-micron chip in three new Presario machines, while building a
0.25-micron version into the Presario 1621. IBM selected an older
0.35-micron, 233-MHz K6, as well as the 266-MHz version, for its
new E46 desktop.
"You have to believe those two companies did more due diligence
and had access to more information than you and I will ever have,"
said Nathan Brookwood, a microprocessor analyst at Dataquest,
in San Jose, Calif. Analysts said both Intel and AMD are offering
bargain prices on their chips to attract makers of sub-$1,000
computers, the hottest segment of the market.
The design wins are "the final stamp of credibility" for AMD," said
Scott Randall, a financial analyst at SoundView Financial Group,
in Stamford, Conn. "But to establish itself, AMD needed to heavily
discount to get inside those boxes, which I believe was the case."
Executives at IBM Personal Computer Co. declined to comment
on any discounts, saying only that its position as an early
supporter and reseller of the processor gave it the inside track to
the new chips. As part of IBM's deal to package the K6 dice, IBM
can resell the chips as an "IBM K6."
"We were there first," said Brian Connors, the vice president
responsible for IBM's Aptiva line, in Raleigh, N.C. Connors would
only say AMD had guaranteed an undisclosed supply of the new
chips, including the 266-MHz K6.
Executives likened the market situation to the last days of the 486,
when OEMs could virtually swap one supplier for another. "Intel
has their road map, AMD has theirs," IBM's Connors said. "Intel
topped off the Pentium with MMX at 233 MHz, while AMD's now
making a 266-MHz K6. It's evolutionary.
"At the end of the day," he said, "a PC is nothing more than rented
space."
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