Phoenix Technologies (PTEC) Message Board

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Technology Stocks : Phoenix Technologies (PTEC)

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To: Daniel D. Caldwell who wrote (2919)	11/23/1998 6:09:00 PM
From: Mark Brophy	Read Replies (1) of 3624

Re: Phoenix-Intel relationship The secondary benefits are what helps most; Intel demands features and quality that helps other customers. Not having Intel is far worse. The secondary benefits are what hurt the most. Under the terms of the Intel contract, Phoenix is required to wait 90 days before using any code developed for Intel in the BIOS of another customer. The engineers have to waste a lot of time figuring out what code can be used and the lawyers have to pore over every release to verify that the contract hasn't been breached. It's very inefficient and partly explains why Phoenix was never able to develop the economies of scale necessary to crush Award. As far as Merced; there is money to be had far in advance of the actual silicon availability. A lot of money; trust me.... Phoenix and other companies have figured out that being there ahead of everyone else has a premium that customers are willing to pay for. Merced has been delayed for 2 years and Intel has a history of propagating new technology very slowly such as USB, 1394, AGP, MMX, and I2O. Sun moves a lot faster and there's a strong possibility that they will once again thwart Intel's attempts to encroach on their turf. Merced might be a bonanza for Phoenix someday, but for now it's only speculation that has failed to show up in the bottom line. Even if it's successful, it will take a long time for the entire software industry to redesign code from single-threaded to multi-threaded. Intel couldn't propagate a minor enhancement like MMX instructions rapidly and they could fail with the larger Merced problem.

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