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

To: steve harris who wrote (92437)	2/11/2000 8:44:00 AM
From: Goutam	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1573431

Steve, From the AMD's Athlon 850 announcement you posted - I like these comments from some of the oems: "Compaq continues to see TREMENDOUS ENTHUSIASM AND EXCITEMENT among consumers for the AMD Athlon processor," said Mark Vena, Director, CTO Product Marketing, Compaq Computer Corporation. "With this next leap forward in processor performance, the Compaq Presario desktop family continues to deliver the ultimate Internet and gaming experience for consumers who require nothing less than the highest power and speed in their desktop systems." "We have seen a STRONG DEMAND for the current Aptiva systems, specifically the Aptiva S Series 880 with the 800 MHz AMD Athlon microprocessor. AMD continues to be a RELIABLE PARTNER to IBM in delivering microprocessing technology that enhances productivity by maximizing speed and performance," according to Brian Dalgetty, Director, IBM Desktop Product Marketing. "Coupled with AMD's new 850MHz Athlon processor, we will be able to offer individuals the solutions to satisfy their every computing need at an affordable price." "It is critical for Pionex's commercial customers to have the best performance in their desktops and workstations in order to keep up with today's demanding applications," said John Amico, vice president of sales at Pionex. "Pionex Elite systems, featuring 850MHz AMD Athlon processors, not only scream with speed, they also provide BUSINESS USERS with a value-laden performance platform." Goutama

To: steve harris who wrote (92437)	2/11/2000 9:06:00 AM
From: Hans de Vries	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 1573431

Steve, thread: Some news from the only company not selling 850 MHz PCs: theregister.co.uk Dell's power to drive profits slows to crawl Dell's recent profit growth warning was fleshed out yesterday when the doyen of direct PC sales announced a tiny rise in net income and a large -- but not up to par -- growth in revenue for its fourth quarter, ended 28 January. The quarter's profits total a mere $436 million (16 cents a share), up just three per cent on the $425 million (15 cents a share) Dell recorded for the same period last year, and just under six-and-a-half per cent of the $6.8 billion the company made in sales. That figure represents an increase of 31 per cent in Dell's revenue when compared to last year's Q4, down on the 50 per cent and up revenue growth the company has been seeing for the last five years or so. Dell blamed the downturn on the same Y2k-inspired dip in sales that hit a number of PC vendors over the last months of 1999. It also singled out Intel, blaming the chip vendor's inability to supply sufficient Pentium III CPUs for a further slowdown in sales. Chairman Michael Dell was quick to point out the prospect of better times ahead, but the results suggest that he needs to do some fundamental repair work to the company he founded. A 31 per cent increase in revenue isn't exactly a sign of failure: at that level of growth, sales may be slowing but they're hardly collapsing or, worse, tailing off. But when you're profits are only up three per cent, that's more worrying, since it implies either margins are way down or Dell really needs to take a look at cutting costs. Margins are down some, thanks to said product shortages, increases in memory costs and falling PC prices, but surely not enough to see Dell keeping so small a proportion of the money it receives from a sale? And the situation isn't likely to improve in the near future, with flat earnings growth next quarter. Still Dell's a bright lad, and is clearly looking increasingly toward the high-margin server market and further diversification into the Web services business to pump up his company's profitability. The company will soon launch a Web hosting service for SMEs, ultimately expanding it to take in corporates too. And Dell expects a big server spending spree through the coming year, as company expand their Internet-oriented hardware: "I think we are at the beginning of a massive buildout of storage and servers... to provide companies with new Internet capabilities. "Probably five per cent of what is necessary five years out is installed today and what's installed today will have to be replaced." Sales of servers and enterprise storage products were up 55 per cent during the quarter, so the spree is clearly beginning already. However, the company warned that increased spending due to the hardware demands of Windows 2000 is very unlikely to make much on an impact before the second half of the year. © Hans.

To: steve harris who wrote (92437)	2/11/2000 9:55:00 AM
From: Scot	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1573431

Steve, FALL DEEPER IN LOVE WITH THE WORLD'S FASTEST x86 PROCESSOR: THE 850MHz AMD ATHLON? PROCESSOR --850MHz AMD Athlon? processor to power computers by Compaq, IBM, Gateway, Pionex and CyberMax-- SUNNYVALE, CA -- February 11, 2000 --AMD today sent out an early Valentine's Day greeting to computer lovers everywhere, unveiling an 850MHz version of its award-winning AMD Athlon? processor. Is it just me, or are these guys getting excited! Great PR, thanks for posting. Now here's the Intel news network spin on things (notice how there is no longer a disclaimer from cnet on their ownership): AMD rolls out 850-MHz chip By Michael Kanellos Staff Writer, CNET News.com February 11, 2000, 4:00 a.m. PT URL: news.cnet.com Advanced Micro Devices will overtake rival Intel today when it announces an 850-MHz version of its flagship processor. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD is rolling out an 850-MHz Athlon, according to people familiar with the company's plans. The move will give AMD the right to claim it has the fastest desktop chip in the market. Intel's Pentium III tops out at 800 MHz, although versions running at 850 MHz and 866 MHz are expected in the near future. The two companies have been jousting for the bragging rights since AMD released the Athlon last summer. Traditionally a maker of budget processors, AMD has vaulted into the mainstream desktop market with Athlon. The two chips are roughly equal in terms of performance, according to benchmark tests. The measurements and results vary, however, and have been the subject of lively debates in the processor world. Manufacturers IBM, Gateway, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard incorporate the chip in their PCs. Athlon typically goes into high-end consumer and small-business systems. Servers and workstations are expected to begin including the chip later this year. Earlier this week, AMD demonstrated a version of Athlon running at 1.1 GHz at the International Solid State Circuits Conference. The speedy chip uses copper wires, rather than aluminum, to connect circuits. AMD is expected to start releasing copper chips commercially in the second half of this year, while Intel will not move to copper until the second half of next year. One comment, the bolded section could be taken several ways....one of which is that the Cumine and Athlon are roughly equal chips (i.e., at the same clock speed)..the other is that the 800mhz Cumine is equivalent to the 850 Athlon. Maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill...still, it is poorly written. -Scot