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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: P.M.Freedman who wrote (87616)	9/2/1999 9:39:00 AM
From: Burt Masnick	Respond to of 186894

Intel to Back Alternative to Rambus Chips By Eileen Kinsella Staff Reporter 9/1/99 9:08 PM ET Ending months of speculation, Intel (INTC:Nasdaq)embraced a low-cost alternative to Rambus-based (RMBS:Nasdaq) memory chips. Intel said at the Intel Developers Forum in Palm Springs, Calif., late Wednesday that it will support PC133 SDRAMs in the first half of next year. The PC133 is a memory chip seen as a stopgap measure to chips using Rambus designs. Some companies have been critical of delays and high costs of Rambus chips. Intel's announcement will make it easy for Rambus critics to embrace an alternative while still working with chipsets made by Intel. Intel is facing growing competition in memory chipsets, or devices that connect a computer's memory to its processor. By the time Intel's chipsets come out, they will be six months behind competitor Via Technology, a Taiwan-based company that has PC133 chipsets on the market now. Rambus isn't likely to penetrate the low-priced PC market until 2002, according to data from Intel. Many in the semiconductor industry have said Rambus can't dominate the industry without penetrating the budget PC sector. Intel emphasized it isn't abandoning Rambus. It is still planning on producing parts for low-budget PCs next year, and is hoping that market will develop. "Rambus DRAM still provides a much more capable platform," Intel spokesman Pete MacWilliams said. Until now, Intel has been adamant that it would support only Rambus in its attempt to move the memory industry to the costly but fast design. But only recently has it realized that the industry is moving regardless toward PC133 SDRAM, which is made by Micron Technology (MU:NYSE) and Korea's Samsung. "A key part of the decision," said MacWilliams, "is that we're finding that PC133 just happens. It is not a lot of work or cost for DRAM vendors." That wasn't the case when Intel last evaluated the technology in the first half of 1998. MacWilliams told TheStreet.com that Intel has since been evaluating another Rambus alternative, double data rate DRAM, but doesn't plan to support it. But in a press conference later, MacWilliams said he would not rule it out. The launch of Intel's Rambus-based chipsets is scheduled for Sept. 27. Rambus closed down 1 3/4 at 95 3/4 and Intel closed up 1 1/4 at 83 7/16. -- Marcy Burstiner