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Technology Stocks : IDTI - an IC Play on Growth Markets
IDTI 48.990.0%Mar 29 5:00 PM EST

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To: Donald B. Fuller who wrote (8747)6/5/1998 6:45:00 PM
From: Rob S.  Read Replies (2) of 11555
 
I talked with IDTI today. Most of what we already know was confirmed.

IDT could produce the original WinChip in greater quantity but the market has moved on to higher speed grades and the lower performance of the design has become more of an issue. They came to the decision that they couldn't make decent margins for the parts and would be better off throwing the effort behind the WinChip 2 to get it ramped as quickly as possible. They are sampling the parts now, including to at least a couple of major OEMs. IDT expects to deliver in volume by late August to September. IBM has taped out but has not yet started sampling. The time to transition the designs to the IBM fab is expected to lag by two to four weeks. I couldn't find out yet if they have had volume production runs in the Oregon fab. That probably won't be for another 2-3 weeks from my reckoning. It usually takes 4 to 8 weeks from the start of wafer runs to delivery of finished parts. The WC 2 is targeted to yield 233+ Mhz with more coming out at 240 or 266 Mhz initially and ramping toward 300 Mhz latter in the year.

The performance of the new WinChip 2 is said to be better than the K6+ 3DNow parts in many areas - for instance higher ratings in WinBench but maybe still not quite as good in FP operations. This fits with earlier reported statements by Glen Henry that the WC 2 was comparable in performance to the new K6+. The WinChip 2 (and K6+) includes support for the 100 Mhz "Super Socket 7" bus and is expected to deliver comparable performance to Intel's more expensive Pentium II/slot 1 parts. The thinking about sales is that "if we can build it (at the "sweet spot" of performance levels & market demand), they will come". This will be a big improvement over the original WC because it will no longer be "sucking hind tit" in performance and will include the latest 3D, improved MMX and FP enhancements.

IDT said that they are targeting at least a couple of major OEMs and hope to get commitments from one or two of them for around the time of the product launch. There is no certainty that can be accomplished. It is encouraging to note that they believe they will have the needed volume of production between the Oregon and IBM fabs to initially go after large OEMs.
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