P Bell, NEC use K6-2/333 for note books, CPQ, IBM, HP, Sony offer K6-2 systems.
Packard Bell uses AMD
inside
By Brooke Crothers and Michael Kanellos
Staff Writers, CNET News.com
October 26, 1998, 12:15 p.m. PT
update Packard Bell NEC has begun to ship
desktop and notebook computers with processors
from Advanced Micro Devices.
The deal marks yet another design win for AMD,
which has seen its
market share rise rapidly
during 1998 as
computer vendors have
sought less expensive
alternatives to Intel
processors.
So far, the only major
domestic computer
vendors AMD has yet to
crack are the large direct vendors--Dell, Gateway,
and Micron Electronics--and AMD came close to
signing a deal with Gateway earlier this year, said
sources close to both companies.
The Packard Bell alliance also increases AMD's
presence in the notebook market. Inexpensive
notebooks for the consumer market are expected
to become a growth segment in 1999, according to
a number of analysts. AMD will likely benefit
because the company deliberately prices its chips at
25 percent below Intel's.
"AMD is finding that it is doing particularly well in
the notebook arena, which forces Intel to respond,"
said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury
Research. Intel so far has responded to the
challenge by announcing that it will release Celeron
chips for notebooks as well as new versions of the
Pentium MMX chip, which has been discontinued
on desktops, in the first part of 1999.
While the Packard Bell NEC deal encroaches upon
Intel's market share, it also potentially hurts Cyrix,
the processor subsidiary of National
Semiconductor. Cyrix signed a deal to supply
processors to Packard Bell earlier this year.
AMD-based desktop models include the Packard
Bell 955 and NEC Ready 9888. Both will use the
333-MHz AMD K6-2 chip. NEC is also shipping
a notebook computer which uses a 300-MHz
mobile K6 processor. Both models are new. The
Packard Bell 955, however, is similar to a
Cyrix-based machine sold by Packard Bell right
now.
IBM, Compaq Computer, Hewlett-Packard, and
Sony are also using K6 processors in consumer
PCs, giving AMD a clean sweep of the major retail
PC manufacturers. Compaq, meanwhile, makes an
AMD-powered notebook.
"Now, the top five PC [makers] who sell systems
through retail in the U.S. are all able to offer their
customers...systems based on AMD processors,"
said Dave Sheffler, AMD vice president of sales
for the Americas.
Earlier this month, AMD chairman Jerry Sanders
said that the company was on the verge of
announcing a major notebook and desktop alliance
with a major vendor. |
