Intel investors, Intel pulling more function into chipsets. Mentions hit to Broadcom and 3 COM business. I wonder if their stocks might get hit.
Intel Plans Ethernet Functions For PC Chips
"We will integrate Ethernet and home-networking in the chipset," Christensen
said in an interview at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Palm Springs, Calif.
bigcharts.com
Intel Plans Ethernet Functions For PC Chips
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2000 7:47 AM
- TechWeb
Feb 21, 2000 (Tech Web - CMP via COMTEX) -- Aspiring to extend its
dominance of PC architecture to the networking arena, Intel plans to integrate
some major networking functions onto its PC chipsets in the near future.
The move could diminish the need for stand-alone LAN chips and systems and
pose a threat to several suppliers, industry analysts said.
Intel would not go as far as to say that it wants to kill the LAN-chip and
-equipment business. After all, it sold more than $1 billion worth of LAN-based
systems and chips last year, analysts said.
But in the future, PCs will be integrated with more communications functions,
and Intel wants to be a part of that, said Mark Christensen, vice president and
general manager of Intel's Network Communications Group, Santa Clara, Calif.
"We will integrate Ethernet and home-networking in the chipset," Christensen
said in an interview at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Palm Springs, Calif.
Core-logic products that integrate Ethernet-based functions would be geared
primarily for the lower-priced, consumer-oriented PC segments, he added.
Intel did not disclose specific details of the proposed chipset, but the company
could roll out a product by year's end, according to analyst Dean McCarron of
Mercury Research, Scottsdale, Ariz.
"It's not a real technical challenge for Intel to integrate the Ethernet functions in
the chipset," McCarron said. "Intel could come out with this type of product
within the next six months."
Intel isn't the first company to come up with the idea. Taiwanese chipset maker
Silicon Integrated Systems has been selling an integrated product that
combines PC, audio, modem, and LAN functions on the same device,
McCarron noted. "I wouldn't say Intel is late in this market," he said. "A company
like Intel isn't too worried about SIS."
In fact, Intel is taking a different approach than SIS. The company plans to
separate and integrate one of two main portions of a stand-alone
Ethernet-based 10/100-Mbit/s chip, the media-access controller, into the PC
core logic. The other major portion of an Ethernet-based chip, the physical-layer
device, would be separated and integrated in a stand-alone board called a
riser card, which is installed in a simple PCI slot in the PC.
Recently, Intel announced a new version of this riser-card architecture, called
the Communications and Networking Riser Specification. The card supports
audio, modem, and now LAN functions, ostensibly providing a cost savings for
OEMs.
The new version is designed to handle LAN functions as well as home
networking, including protocols based on the emerging Home Phoneline
Networking Alliance standard.
The move is reminiscent of the company's push to integrate audio and modem
functions in the PC architecture. Intel's Audio Codec standard nearly destroyed
the stand-alone audio-chip market, according to analysts. OEMs are beginning
to adopt so-called software-modem products, leaving the stand-alone
modem-chip industry in limbo as well.
"It's fair to say that this will be a repeat of what happened in the [PC] audio
industry," said Conrad Maxwell, manager of product and technology planning at
Conexant Systems, Newport Beach, Calif.
If so, Intel's new strategy poses a major threat to several companies, including
3Com, Santa Clara, and its chip suppliers, Broadcom and Lucent
Technologies.
"Intel is also a major customer of our [home-networking and LAN] silicon," said
Tony Zuccarino, director of business development at Broadcom, Irvine, Calif.
"Right now, it's hard to say what Intel will do."
"Clearly, Intel drives the PC market. But I still think you're looking at three or
more years of computers that need LAN cards," said Rick Hall, national
account manager at Linksys, a major LAN-card supplier based in Irvine.
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