I agree that Intel will probably lower their non MMX chips to both flush out the retail inventory and to make room for the MMX enabled cpus. My guess is that :
1) The pricing effect on cyrix will be short lived since I would doubt that Intel will produce any more p55's.
2) Intc will probably continue to produce tape carrier mobile non MMX chips for the portable market.
3) This price reduction will only apply to current inventory.
When will Klamath be here, and in what speed? If that is your reference to the 300 mhz P6 with MMX? I haven't seen that speed as a release of first chips mhz. Cyrix will be releasing the M2. Schedule release date is not clear, but my guess is that it will be at or before the Klamath, particularly since Intel has to recoup development costs for the p55c.
While not in the announcement position yet, Cyrix seems to have a substantial deal with Compaq regarding their thin client integrated 5gx86 chip slated to be rolled out Feb 10th. See: pcweek.com
There are also substantial rumors tha NEC/PB will be introducing a 6x86. IBM already has been supplying 6x86 to IBM Canada's Aptiva line. So you have possibly 4 out the top 5 volume box manufacturers selling some sort of Cyrix product. Acer is already produced a 6x86. WHat you don't have is the names we are all familiar with, GW2000, Micron, Dell as customers for Cyrix yet. As far as ads in Computer Shopper, I did not see last months, but the month before had 10-20 different companies offering Cyrix machines in the same configuration and in the same columns as Intel machines, at $300-$600 less per machine on a comparable hardware basis. I think this may have something to do with why they seem to have sold out (rumored) their entire production and a substantial part of their packaged inventory this quarter.
I think you mistake clone manufacturers for alternative 6x86 architecture developers. The M1 (6x86) has more in common with the PPro than the p55, and it was designed at the same time as the Pentium. The features of the 6x86 including register renaming, dependency removal, etc were features design into the 6x86 and not the p55. (For a quick comparison of features see the Cyrix comparison chart on their web site at www.cyrix.com. This reflects the power of Intel's advertizing (and the weakness of Cyrix's ability to promote their product.)
As far as Cyrix's condition deteriorating, I think you are basing this assumption on the 2nd quarter results. I think you will continue to see a substantial turnaround in Cyrix's financials that began in qtr3. So the 'story of Cyrix' seems to me to be getting better, and I'll bet 4th qtr is a substantial 'surprise' to analysts.
Congratulations to all you Intel investors, your company is a juggernaut, increasing in price at an unbelieveable rate. |
