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Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Lee who wrote (35200)	9/11/2000 5:36:06 PM
From: Michael L. Voorhees	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

UltraSparc III Ready To Battle Itanium -- Finally (http://www.techweb.com) (09/11/00, 4:34 p.m. ET) By Jack Robertson, Electronic Buyers' News Sun Microsystems Inc. is expected to unveil its long-delayed next-generation UltraSparc III microprocessor in the next few weeks, setting the stage for a showdown with the 64-bit Itanium MPU Intel Corp. is preparing to launch later this year. Sun (stock: SUNW), Palo Alto, Calif., has been clandestine about UltraSparc III, its first processor core in five years. The chip, fabricated for Sun by Texas Instruments Inc. (stock: TXN), Dallas, on 0.18-micron processes, is expected to launch at 750 MHz, about the same clock speed predicted for Intel's pilot launch of Itanium. Insiders are speculating the chip will be announced on Sept. 27. "I've been told by some of my other colleagues to save the day," Sun spokesman Martin Chorich said. Industry interest in UltraSparc III is centered on how it will help Sun workstations and servers in the enterprise computing market, since the bulk of the processors are used by Sun in its own systems. The company has also been pushing to build a merchant-market customer base for Sparc, and has established a foothold in some high-end communication switches, said Peter Glaskowsky, an analyst at MicroDesign Resources Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif. Cable-TV set-top-box maker Scientific Atlanta Inc. also uses Sparc processors in its digital interactive set-top boxes. The performance of the UltraSparc III will largely determine how successful Intel (stock: INTC), Santa Clara, Calif., is in using its Itanium to penetrate the 64-bit workstation and server markets Sun now dominates. Even with its aging UltraSparc II processor and speed grades greatly exceeded by 32-bit MPUs from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (stock: AMD), Harrisburg, Pa., Sun has owned the high-end computing segment. The company reported a record $1.72 billion in earnings for the fiscal year ended May 31, up 49 percent from the prior year on sales of $15.7 billion, up 33 percent from fiscal 1999. While Sun would not comment, the UltraSparc III is said to have a 9.6-Gigabyte/s data rate and a RISC core that's been extended with graphics instructions to process parallel 2D- and 3D-image-compression algorithms. It is also expected to feature a memory subsystem and bus architecture that will allow servers to link more than 1,000 processors. In the face of the looming battle with Itanium, Sun's UltraSparc III has two advantages that extend beyond performance claims: backward compatibility with existing Sun Solaris software; and its predecessor catering to a massive base of installed 64-bit applications. In contrast, Itanium represents Intel's initial foray into the 64-bit enterprise computer market and will require software developers to write a credible base of new program applications. The impending face-off has been kept on hold, because both UltraSparc III and Itanium have been delayed more than a year from their projected launch dates. Analysts, and Intel itself, attributed Itanium's delay to the number of challenges present in developing a 64-bit processor for the first time. Reasons for the UltraSparc III's tardiness are less clear. Sources said the initial prototype only reached a speed of 600 MHz at a time when Intel and AMD 32-bit MPUs were far faster. They said Sun delayed the launch until further development could push the speed to 750 MHz. And with the UltraSparc II-based workstation and server sales booming, Sun faced little pressure to roll out the successor chip before it was ready, sources said. Related Stories: Sun Logs A 'Blow-Out Quarter' Intel Tries To Get Up To Speed On Pentium 4, 64-bit Itanium Intel's Forthcoming Itanium Processor Attracts Some Interest As Platform For Unix Search Archives Top Stories IBM Unveils 'Blue Hammer' Web Server Cluster Feds OK Big Three Automakers' B-To-B Market UltraSparc III Ready To Battle Itanium -- Finally Startup Looks To Keep Java Chips Alive Dell, Toshiba Sign $5 Billion, Multiyear Deal Print this story Send as e-mail Define an IT Term Technology Clicking For Digital Content On The Cheap Finance Blair Promises Cash To Get Britain Wired Video Cook, Wagner Detail Intuit-Metiom Alliance Powerful Information at Your Fingertips • Establish secure VPN access with wireless devices • Do you have enough $$$ budgeted for Network Security? • Avoid buying lemon-flavored PC's