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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tony Viola who wrote (73754)	10/3/1999 10:31:00 AM
From: steve harris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576663

Tony, re:. "If for no other reason, it's because of Intel's far superior manufacturing and process control, yields, and therefore, reliability." Let's HOPE last week is not the beginning of a new trend at Intel! Tony:re So are you going to tell me that any part of that is not true? ____________________________________________________________________ First, the long version: (short version at end) My opinion is Intel is spending too much time on AMD and not enough time on Intel. Your statement is Intel's reputation which was correct. We HOPE it continues to be correct. As of TODAY, I would say Intel's reputation is in a "delicate" area and is being watched closely by computer manufacturers. Being an Intel shareholder, and with the current news of Intel "stumping their toe" , I HOPE Intel can change the current trend of management choices based upon AMD. It's obvious to me they blew it on Rambus and DELL. I believe they knew the problem beforehand, and GAMBLED they could resolve the problem, so that is why the systems manufactured will be SCRAPPED. We will never know the exact details surrounding the gamble Intel took. Background: news.cnet.com "Regardless of the cost and fix, both Intel and Rambus will find it hard to recover the credibility that they have lost by uncovering this problem so close to the announcement." news.cnet.com "In February, Intel delayed the chipset needed to use Rambus memory from June to September, high Rambus prices are expected to curtail demand, and Intel apparently has scaled back its manufacturing plans." techweb.com "analysts said Intel has suffered a major credibility gap by once again canceling the Direct Rambus launch at the last minute. The delay follows February's debacle, when PC OEMs and their suppliers were primed to launch Direct RDRAM only to have Intel pull the plug because of unspecified technical problems." "Industry sources said Intel has offered to compensate its major Direct Rambus supporters, in particular Samsung Electronics and Toshiba, for some losses should the pushout become prolonged or modules require significant redesign." Short version: Tony, your statement "was correct". "Is correct"=maybe "Will be correct"= STAY TUNED! If Intel returns to worrying about Intel, the current problems will take care of themselves. If Intel continues focusing on "headline grabbing", the problems will continue. The Coppermine launch should succeed; BUT after last week, I hope Intel isn't hiding another problem. Personally, I don't see how Intel can screw up Coppermine, so maybe Intel's reputation can be repaired with time and money. But remember TIME is running out on the RMBS-INTC "incentives": theregister.co.uk In an AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY LICENSE AGREEMENT is the following agreement: "Intel will use its continuing best efforts in marketing, public relations, and engineering to make the Rambus-D DRAM the primary DRAM for PC main memory applications through December 31, 2002; and (b)Intel will communicate to the top (10) DRAM manufacturers, Intel's intention to support the Rambus-D Interface Technology in its integrated circuits for low end workstation, performance desktop, and basic PC platforms." The reason for Intel agreeing to these terms is likely to be the existence of patents which hold the two companies in a tight embrace. But there's more. In the same section is the following statement: "In January 1997 the Company granted a warrant to Intel Corporation for the purchase of 1,000,000 shares of Rambus common stock at an exercise price of $10.00 per share. The warrant will become exercisable only upon the achievement of certain milestones by Intel, which will result in a charge to the statement of operations at the time of achievement of the milestones based on the fair value of the warrant." That deal is now worth between $80 million and $100 million, a sizeable carrot which is worth a lot to Intel's bottom line." I think Intel's current poor decisions will continue. steve