NMGC launching a "next-generation follow-on to the MagicGraph 128XD 128-bit 3-D notebook chip in about a month's time, a company spokeswoman said"
May 11, 1998, TechWeb News
'Tranquil' notebook mkt. eyed -- Longer design cycles attracting vendors weary of desktop wars
By Mark Hachman
Silicon Valley- With the likelihood of casualties mounting in the desktop
graphics chip war, some vendors are turning to the relative tranquility of the notebook market in the hope that longer design cycles and higher margins may offer a break from battle.
The volatile desktop segment has had a history of coups, most recently whenupstart S3 Inc. toppled revenue leader Cirrus Logic Inc. within a year of shipping its first product. S3, in turn, has become a target for dozens of hungry competitors.
In a market where cost is the only king, the notebook space is suddenly looking more attractive. Because closed laptop PCs can't accommodate new graphics cards, the pace of new designs is less hectic. And because power and space are at a premium, chip makers can expect a somewhat better return on their investments.
But while the pressures may be relatively fewer in the notebook market, thepace of industry development is expected to grow as designers add graphics features and increase DRAM frame buffer densities. And since graphics acceleration consists mainly of a controller and memory, vendors have also had to adapt to a new reality: integrate or perish.
Some companies, such as NeoMagic Corp., Santa Clara, Calif., have thrived on embedded graphics products. Others are still playing catch-up.
Longtime notebook-graphics market leader Chips and Technologies Inc. hasyet to release its latest 2-D-only part, the HiQVideo 69000, which embeds 2 Mbytes of DRAM. Scheduled for volume production by the end of 1997, engineering samples of the part have just begun to ship, according to a company sales representative.
Analysts say this is directly tied to the company's recent acquisition by Intel Corp., which temporarily disrupted C&T's product schedule. Although C&T retained 50% market share in the fourth quarter of 1997, its first-quarter share is predicted to significantly decline, said Dean McCarron, principal at Mercury Research Corp., Scottsdale, Ariz.
Trident Microsystems Inc., which ranks third in notebook chips, lost $2 million in its December-ended quarter, blaming the results in part on the lack of an integrated frame buffer.
Trident has since improved its earnings by cutting costs in the desktop segment and has vowed to increase its notebook-graphics efforts, accordingto Frank Lin, president and chief executive of the Mountain View, Calif., company.
The company's 2-D-only Cyber9388 with 2 Mbytes of embedded SDRAM is in production now. The Cyber9520, which adds AGP 2X compatibility to the 2-Mbyte frame buffer, will ship by July, the company said.
In signing on to a more aggressive embedded-chip strategy, however, Trident has resolved to outdo NeoMagic, which has built its success upon embedded DRAM.
"We can discuss dislodging NeoMagic ... but they've got a lot of design wins. We acknowledge that," said Alan Yuen, director of mobile marketing at Trident.
For its part, second-ranked NeoMagic is rapidly gaining on leader C&T, according to McCarron. The company will launch its next-generation follow-on to the MagicGraph 128XD 128-bit 3-D notebook chip in about a month's time, a company spokeswoman said.
"Frankly, it's a great endorsement that the rest of the industry is following our [embedded] road map," said Ron Jankov, senior vice president and general manager of NeoMagic's multimedia division.
Copyright (c) 1998 CMP Media Inc.
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Seems like NMGC has carved quite a niche for itself. I'm wondering if indeed this company will, as it has in the past, surprise the street and jump another 10%. |
