DJ Sun Micro Sees Volume Output Of UltraSparc-III By
Yr-End
By DAVID P. HAMILTON
SAN FRANCISCO -- Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) expects to begin volume production of its
new UltraSparc-III microprocessor by the end of this year, a company official said.
Mel Friedman, president of Sun's microelectronics division, said Sun received the first samples of
the chips three weeks ago from Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), which produces most of Sun's
chips. New computer servers and workstations based on the chip are expected by next spring.
"This is a major, major accomplishment for us," said Anant Agrawal, vice president of the chip
division and the architect who designed the first UltraSparc chip. "To see the silicon working this
beautifully is really amazing."
Agrawal said that engineers testing the chips have enabled all of its major functions and have
already used it to boot up Sun's Solaris operating system. The UltraSparc-III now faces an
extended series of grueling tests designed to exercise as many of its operating modes as possible.
With 23 million transistors and operating speeds of 600 megahertz, the UltraSparc-III is Sun's
latest entry in the competitive race to deliver high-end computing systems that run Internet
businesses and big corporate networks. Unlike its major competitors, International Business
Machines Corp. (IBM) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HWP), Sun insists on designing its own chips
and operating-system software for its computers. IBM and H-P both offer a variety of systems,
including many that use Intel Corp. (INTC) microprocessors and Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT)
Windows NT operating system.
While analysts and competitors alike doubt Sun's ability to keep up the pace against the "Wintel"
juggernaut, Sun executives say they have no choice. "What do the economics look like if I go with
Intel?" Friedman asked. "Everyone sees their gross margins slide when they pay taxes to Intel and
Microsoft."
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