Brian, I thought I'd see the article below posted here by you, since you put it on the AMAT thread. Anyway, as you said,
Rising demand for PC's?
Also, Craig Barrett probably didn't say that 2H would be a lot better for nothing.
ebnews.com
Intel chipset prices rise
sharply on demand spike
By Mark Hachman, Sandy Chen, and
Barbara Jorgensen
Electronic Buyers' News
(07/23/99, 06:52:34 PM EDT)
A sharp increase in demand for Intel Corp.'s
mainstream PC chipsets caused prices to
spike as much as 20% last week, and
motherboard vendors fear the shortage will
persist until September.
Intel confirmed the scant supply of its 440BX
and 440ZX chipsets, products designed for the
high-volume corporate PC market. While
motherboard vendors initially declined to raise
prices of their BX- and ZX-based boards,
some said the shortfall may delay product
introductions by lower-tier suppliers.
?We're acknowledging a shortage of BX and
ZX parts, and we're working quickly to meet
that [demand],? said a spokesman for Intel,
Santa Clara, Calif. ?It's a case where demand
for the product continues to be extremely
strong. It's a good problem.?
The specific causes of the shortage vary, but of
five customers polled, most said an
unexpected surge in overall demand-as much
as 40%, according to one Asian distributor-has
caused prices of the two chipsets to rise since
late June. In addition, some worried that
problems with the Intel 810, the 440BX's
successor, would mean greater reliance on the
BX and the ZX. The BX chipset is targeted at
mainstream PCs, while the ZX is designed into
lower-end systems.
The situation with both chipsets was felt most
last week, when demand for 440BX and 440ZX
chipsets suddenly increased. Even the
predecessor to the 440BX, the 440LX, has
experienced a 25% price spike during the
same period, according to independent
distributor NECX, Peabody, Mass. Prices for
the 440BX have increased since June 25,
when it was $26.78. Just last week alone, the
price jumped from $27.63 to $33.50. The price
of the 440ZX has risen from $17.48 on June
25, to $20.50 last week.
?The motherboard demand in the second
quarter this year was unexpectedly strong,? one
Asian motherboard maker said. ?Intel's forecast
supply for both chipsets was not able to meet
the demand. It usually takes from one month to
45 days for Intel to solve shortage problems, so
the shortage will remain till the end of
September.?
The Intel spokesman declined to comment on
when the company expects to satisfy the
440BX and 440ZX demand, reiterating that
Intel is ?working quickly? to meet customer
orders. Industry sources said Intel is shipping
product first to its top-tier, key OEM accounts,
forcing second-tier OEMs, some white-box
makers, and merchant motherboard suppliers
to fend for themselves.
Some motherboard makers noted the chipset
shortage two weeks ago, and warned it would
begin affecting the supply of their own BX- and
ZX-based boards as early as this week. Most
said prices of their own high-end BX boards
would remain stable, at about $125, while ZX
boards should stay at around $70-for now. ?The
shortage of 440ZX is really serious,? said one
executive of an Asian distributor. ?It's really
tough to allocate the chip. The pricing is there,
but you can't find them.?
NECX, which now operates a global exchange
in conjunction with Japan's Sumitomo Corp.,
reports that demand from Far East
motherboard makers is "unbelievable,? said
Frank Cavallaro, NECX's director of worldwide
sales. ?Demand is huge for the BX right now,
and pricing isn't the problem [in fulfilling
demand]. We would be able to sell as much as
we can get our hands on.?
Although the 440BX and 440ZX chipsets were
designed as a stable, long-term platform for
corporate customers, Intel has encouraged
customers to transition to the Intel 810, or
Whitney, an integrated graphics chipset
introduced in late April and designed for the
low end of the mainstream arena. But quality
problems have delayed the 810, most notably a
bug that has affected the chipset's ability to
keep correct time.
While Intel, analysts, and even customers
initially characterized the problems as minor,
an aura of instability surrounding the 810 has
surfaced, motherboard makers said. Although
the Intel spokesman said the 810 is the
fastest-ramping chipset in history, with more
than 3 million units produced, analysts said 810
supply is too low for the chipset to serve as a
mainstream product.
?The 810 chipset had some quality problems in
the beginning, so the market hesitated to
accept the chipset and remained using the
440BX and 440ZX,? a Taiwanese motherboard
maker said.
?We want to make really sure we have a stable
solution,? said a smaller, U.S.-based
motherboard supplier. ?That's [we started] our
first [810] boards in mid-July.?
NECX concluded that last week's price spike
might be the first hint of panic buying. ?What's
happened in the past week is based on
everybody wondering whether there would be a
fix for the Whitney,? Cavallaro said. ?Previously,
they were hedging their bets on the BX, but
now there's no confidence that the bugs will be
worked out, and the BX is the interim fix. ...
People have begun to realize that there may
not be a new chipset, and everybody's jumping
on the BX bandwagon.? |
