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Technology Stocks : Rambus (RMBS) - Eagle or Penguin -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zeev Hed who wrote (50802)	8/22/2000 6:45:11 PM
From: Jdaasoc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

Zeev: Barrett states "economics will predict what we do." RE RDRAM. Latest RDRAM prices with both Kingston and Viking lowering prices. All prices PC800 EEC memory. 64_______$213-337 128_______$372-541 256_______$736-1090 For comparison 128 MB PC133 $190. So we are down to 100% premium for RDRAM. john cbs.marketwatch.com Intel unveils Xeon, details Pentium 4 By Lisa Sanders & Janet Haney, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 5:24 PM ET Aug 22, 2000 NewsWatch Latest headlines SAN JOSE, Calif. (CBS.MW) -- Intel's Developer Forum kicked off Tuesday, tagged as the world's preeminent geek fest by Intel Chief Technology Officer Pat Gelsinger. CEO Craig Barrett gave a broad overview about the Intel Developer Forum during his opening keynote speech for the three day event Tuesday morning. "Our job is to make the best possible life preservers to give our customers," Barrett told the crowd. "Customers just want to push a button and have it work." Today on CBS MarketWatch Stocks ease from highs after FOMC stands pat Fed leaves rates unchanged, still sees inflation risk Microsoft presses to let appeals court rule After Hours trading: Quokka surges Modest gains for tech stocks More top stories... CBS MarketWatch Columns Updated: 8/22/2000 6:11:00 PM ET Pushing some of those buttons was Albert Yu, senior vice president and general manager Intel (INTC: news, msgs) Architecture Group. Yu highlighted Intel's latest push in the enterprise market, mobile computing and desktop businesses. Yu said Intel is shipping over 6,000 Itanium processor prototypes, with end-user pilots expected to ship in the fourth quarter. Intel currently has 32-bit and 64-bit capability with its Itanium processor. The world's largest chipmaker said it will start to record revenue for the Itanium in the fourth quarter. General availability for the Itanium will come in the first half of 2001. Additionally, Yu said Intel's Pentium III Xeon processor, running at 1 gigahertz, is shipping today. The speedy device is targeted at the enterprise market for general purpose servers and workstations. Yu and other Intel personnel then demonstrated the much-anticipated Pentium 4 - expected to launch in the fourth quarter - calling it the fastest desktop platform in the world. Intel demonstrated a 1.4GHz and 1.5GHz Pentium 4 and even revved one computer up to a whopping 2GHZ, saying, "Moore's Law still works." The processor, targeted at consumers and business users, is expected to deliver speedy execution and the highest-bandwidth desktop system bus in the industry, the company said. Three days in San Jose Event attendees include 500 press and analysts, 150 companies, 137 sessions and 5,000 industry participants from 30 different countries, over the three-day conference and exposition in San Jose, Calif. In a question and answer session with press following the speeches and demonstrations, Barrett and Yu answered questions pertaining to Intel and the industry. "We still support RDRAM Rambus," Barrett said, commenting on the hotly-debated topic of whether Intel will continue to support and use Rambus (RMBS: news, msgs) technology or look to other less expensive options. The CEO added that "economics will predict what we do." Bear Stearns analyst Charles Boucher said after the Q&A session that Intel is open to using other alternatives to Rambus and commented, "They're not closing the door on anything." Reflecting on the future of the personal computer sector, Barrett said, "Our core business is still healthy, strong and growing," and added the PC business "isn't dead yet." Boucher also said while the Pentium 4 may ship in the fourth quarter, it may not have any volume impact. He added that Intel will make its financials "comfortably" without the Pentium 4 in the fourth quarter, and will increase with the product in the first quarter. Intel will hold its Spring 2001 IDF conference in San Jose, Feb. 27 through March 1. In a press release corresponding with the chip architecture, Intel noted that 75 percent of all deployed Internet servers are based on Intel architecture, citing research firm International Data Corp. Shares of Intel, which investors bid up before the technology announcement, closed at 72 1/8, up 1/16, after 31.5 million shares changed hands.

To: Zeev Hed who wrote (50802)	8/22/2000 7:22:52 PM
From: Bilow	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 93625

Hi Zeev Hed; Re: "what the bears and Carl as well are not realizing is that if indeed RDRAM is the best solution for high end systems (this year, as Barrett states), there is no place where DDR will find its entry (the high end is "occupied by RDRAM and mainstream can be well served with SDRAM) and go down its own "learning curve", even if DDR has some advantages (just as did EDO), they must find the correct market opportunity to get in. At low production runs, there is no reason that DDR will be more than 15% cheaper than RDRAM (if at all), testing of high speed parts will be as cumbersome for DDR as for RDRAM, so, unless they have assured themselves "a place under the sun", they are too late to the party and Samsung is going to go laughing all the way to the bank." Ah, poor Zeev, you are so out of your depth when it comes to the memory market... But a sweet trader. Nice gain there. There are some basic errors in your post: (1) The DDR ramp up started last fall, and is doing beautifully. Nvidia, in particular, is shipping vast volumes of GeForce chipsets. Looking forward, the server market is owned by DDR, and RDRAM just lost Intel's mainstream market. Where's the Timna, for instance? The latest news from IDF has Intel producing an SDRAM workstation chipset, that's the last RDRAM stronghold left: Among the new Intel chip sets is an 860 chip set, which is expected to debut in the first quarter of 2001* to support workstations with SDRAM memory.* semibiznews.com The real question is how long will it be before RDRAM is squeezed completely out of the PC marketplace, not how long will it be before they take over the market. The only hope the stock has is royalty collections from SDRAM and DDR. RDRAM itself is quite dead in the PC marketplace. (2) DDR doesn't need nearly the kind of ramp that RDRAM needed to get prices down. This is because RDRAM is revolutionary, DDR is evolutionary. In addition, IBM, Fujitsu and Samsung (and possibly others) already make memory that is configured as SDRAM or DDR SDRAM only at the test stage. RDRAM wafers have to be started 10 weeks or so before they are produced, but DDR can be chosen as an option at the last stage. Unlike RDRAM, DDR doesn't need the high cost testing equipment. Consequently, the volumes in DDR are already available from the memory makers, it is just a matter of chipsets. (3) You wrote that " testing of high speed parts will be as cumbersome for DDR as for RDRAM". Where did you get an idea like that? PC266 DDR runs at 1/3 the frequency of PC800 RDRAM. Do you really think that tripling the frequency doesn't make it more difficult to test? How could you write something this silly? Rambus PR, perhaps? Would you like to supply a link? The industry has repeatedly been claiming exactly the opposite for several years. Now they have refused to produce RDRAM in volume, or drop the price. Intel is abandoning the technology with all possible speed, and you come up with this kind of statement. Jeez... Re "Samsung laughing all the way to the bank". Clearly you haven't read the Samsung report on DDR: inqst.com You've made your trade, and you made a profit. Now you're out, but why are you spouting this nonsense? You are a great trader, (I think the best swing trader on SI) but your technical knowledge of the memory industry (or memory technology) is quite limited. Sorry for picking on you while I ignore most of the silly posts on this thread, but I have a lot more respect for your opinions than I have for theirs. -- Carl

To: Zeev Hed who wrote (50802)	8/22/2000 8:27:38 PM
From: Bilow	Respond to of 93625

Hi Zeev Hed; You wrote: "Samsung is going to go laughing all the way to the bank." with regard to RDRAM winning out over DDR. Since you obviously have never bought memory from Samsung, I thought I would provide you with some links to assist you the next time you felt like commenting on the status of the memory industry. While Samsung was a leader in RDRAM production, they have more than just the tip of an oar in the DDR pond. Lets take a look at the situation with 128Mbit, 256Mbit, and 512Mbit memory sizes. *SAMSUNG 128 Mbit DDR and RDRAM MEMORY* The fact is that Samsung has 128Mbit DDR in mass production: Samsung 128Mbit DDR 32Mx4 Mass Production 16Mx8 Mass Production 8Mx16 Mass Production intl.samsungsemi.com The thing to note is that those x4 DDR chips are no way and no how going into graphics cards. Those are main memory chips for PCs, my friend. Graphics cards use x8s and above, as does the Transmeta Crusoe. Anything about the words "Mass Production" that you have trouble understanding? What do you think they're doing with those DDR chips? For reference, here is the 128/144Mbit RDRAM situation at Samsung: 128/144Mbit RDRAM 256Kx18x32 Normal Mass Production 256Kx18x32 Mirror Mass Production 256Kx16x32 Consum Mass Production 256Kx16x32 Mirror Mass Production 256Kx16x32 Normal Mass Production intl.samsungsemi.com intl.samsungsemi.com *SAMSUNG 256 Mbit DDR and RDRAM MEMORY* In the 256Mbit part region, DDR at Samsung is ahead of RDRAM: 256Mbit DDR 16Mx16 Engineering Sample Sep. 2000 32Mx8 Engineering Sample Sep. 2000 64Mx4 Engineering Sample Sep. 2000 intl.samsungsemi.com 256Mbit RDRAM 512Kx18x32 Engineering Sample 4Q00 intl.samsungsemi.com Last I heard, Sep. 2000 was in 3Q00, which comes before 4Q00. That's right the DDR samples are out before the RDRARM samples, for 256Mbit parts. *SAMSUNG 512 Mbit DDR and RDRAM MEMORY* Okay, you're so convinced that RDRAM is the wave of the future, cause you're the big memory expert. Okay, why does Samsung have 512Mbit DDR chips, but no 512Mbit RDRAM chips? Here's a link to their announcement for the 512Mbit DDR chips, (and note how they can switch their manufacturing process back and forth between SDRAM and DDR, but not RDRAM, which is why DDR is such an easy ramp from SDRAM): The 512Mb DRAM uses a chip design that can support either the synchronous mode of the current PC-100 and PC-133, or the next-generation DDR (double data rate) memory specifications. This design will enable better production line flexibility, quickening Samsung's response time to market demands. intl.samsungsemi.com This was back in April, and no, they haven't got a 512Mbit RDRAM chip yet, even though it is now four months later. Go look for it. Here's their press releases: intl.samsungsemi.com And this is all from Samsung, which is Rambus' big buddy. If you want to buy some DDR DIMMs from Samsung, get the part numbers here: intl.samsungsemi.com And then call this number to place your order: usa.samsungsemi.com -- Carl