AMD's new K6 could smash laptop prices
PC Week
By Lisa DiCarlo, ZDNet
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. today introduced a 300MHz K6 chip for portables, the next step in its plan
to penetrate a broader band of the computer market.
AMD's (NYSE:AMD) plans will likely put pressure on Intel Corp.'s (Nasdaq:INTC) mobile processor
prices, which are already scheduled for a first-quarter drop.
The 300MHz K6 will cost $229 in 1,000-unit quantities. Intel's mobile 300MHz Pentium II is selling for
about $635 now. AMD's policy generally has been to price its comparably performing chips 25 percent
below Intel's. The newest K6 will be followed in the first half of 1999 by mobile versions of the K6-2,
which will feature 3DNow technology and support for a 100MHz bus.
Sharptooth to follow
Later in 1999, AMD will introduce a chip, code-named Sharptooth, that will have 256KB of integrated
Level 2 cache and a 100MHz bus, officials said. AMD hopes that OEMs will position those notebooks
toward the higher end of market, said David Somo, director of product marketing at AMD in Sunnyvale,
Calif.
The K6 processors will be used mainly in value-oriented notebooks.
Compaq Computer Corp., which effectively created the $1,000 desktop PC market with Cyrix Corp.
chips, is already using AMD's 266MHz K6 and will use the 300MHz version in its Presario notebooks,
officials said.
AMD officials said other notebook makers will announce K6-based products, although they declined to
say who or when.
Ripe for competition
Analysts are in agreement that the mobile market is ripe for competition, considering that Intel has been
the only provider of X86 mobile chips since the 386, when AMD last competed in this market.
"It will be a good thing for the market to have another choice and will help [prolong the shelf life] of
existing Socket-7 based products,'' said Dean McCarron, an analyst at Mercury Research Inc. in
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Don't count Intel out
Intel, of course, does not plan on ceding the market, especially after initially missing the market for
low-cost desktop PCs.
To that end, the Santa Clara, Calif., company needs to fill the gap left open between today's pricey
Pentium II notebooks and Celeron-based systems coming in the first quarter. Intel will resurrect the
Pentium with MMX product line early next year and introduce a 300MHz Pentium Processor with MMX
Technology, officials confirmed. That chip will cost about $185, sources said.
Still, AMD may have important time-to-market advantages over Intel. For example, AMD is expected to
introduce an integrated 3D instruction set into mobile processors, the K6-2, months before Intel does
the same with its mobile version of the Katmai processor.
Also, AMD is expected to introduce a 100MHz bus implementation in portables in the first half of 1999.
Intel is not expected to reach that milestone until September of 1999 when it introduces Coppermine.
As previously reported, Intel intends to introduce a raft of low-cost processors in 1999, including its first
Celerons for notebooks - a 233MHz chip for about $105 and a 266MHz processor for about $155,
sources said.
The larger question for AMD is whether the company has the cachet to demand premium prices from
customers. John G. Spooner contributed to this report
See Also:
AMD's New Chip Is Fast, but Will It Sell?
Study: Intel's chip dominance is starting to erode
Newest mobile Pentium II to bring cheaper notebooks
New AMD chip gives Intel a run for its money
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