Armonk, New York, Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- IBM Corp. tomorrow will begin distributing new high-speed,
copper-based chips fordesktop and mobile computers that the world's largest computer company is counting
on to boost its microprocessor sales.
IBM will ship two variations of its copper-enhanced 400- megahertz chip to computer
makers. Its PowerPC 750 features cache, which
speeds up processing, and is targeted at desktop and mobile computers, and networking and
telecommunications devices. The cache-less PowerPC 740 is designed for hand-held devices.
Armonk, New York-based IBM said last September that it had perfected copper-based computer chips.
Copper conducts electricity better than the current chip standard, aluminum, and therefore provides faster
performance. IBM expects its copper technology to find its way into a range of devices, including printers,
consumer electronics and computer-storage systems.
''It gives them quite a boost in an industry where the software is stable and processor improvements are worth
paying for,'' said
Richard Doherty, research director at Envisioneering Group Inc., a Seaford, New York-based research firm.
The copper chips -- designed from an aluminum-based 300MHz chip -- will be slightly smaller and consume
58 percent less power than current PowerPC processors, IBM said.
''What's most significant is that they got copper out a year after they announced it, '' said Tony Massimini, an
analyst with Semico
Research Corp., a Phoenix-based research firm. ''It makes copper very credible.''
Microprocessor-related revenue -- including chip sales and manufacturing -- accounted for $2 billion, or 3
percent, of IBM's $78.5
billion in overall revenue last year, Doherty said.
IBM plans to make copper-based chips designed by other chip- makers for various uses by late next year. The
new chips and IBM's
recently announced Silicon-On-Insulator technology will likely fuel double-digit sales growth in its
microelectronics division over the
next 12 months, Doherty said.
Next year, IBM will use copper in processors running its most powerful computers, including the S/390
mainframe, the AS/400 and
the RS/6000.
IBM's biggest customers initially for the copper chips will be Apple Computer Inc., analysts said
The chips should give Cupertino, California-based Apple ''the hottest, most sought-after workstations
around,'' Doherty said, and
shore up Apple in the desktop publishing market.
Apple could not be reached for comment.
IBM shares fell 9 15/16 to 112 5/8. Apple shares fell 3 to 31 3/16. --Jeff Bliss in the Princeton newsroom
(609) 279-4086/cap Story
Illustration: To see a graph of IBM's stock price in recent months, see: IBM US
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