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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lindelgs who wrote (2423)	9/19/2000 11:23:41 PM
From: lindelgs	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Technology News Tue, 19 Sep 2000, 11:22pm EDT Via Unveils Chipsets Backing High-Speed Standard (Update1) By Alan Patterson Taipei, Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) - Via Technologies Inc., the world's No. 2 chipset designer after Intel Corp., introduced its first products enabling the use of high-speed memory chips in computers based on processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Via advocates double data rate, or DDR, memory as an alternative to a standard from U.S. chip designer Rambus Inc. Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, until two months ago endorsed Rambus as the only high-speed memory standard for its Pentium 4 processor, slated for release during the fourth quarter of this year. Intel now says it will support Rambus alternatives. Via, along with a group of memory chipmakers including Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Micron Technology Inc. and Infineon Technologies AG, is holding a two-day forum in Taipei to demonstrate support for DDR as the main standard for high- performance servers, workstations and personal computers. ``Via is enabling a rapid industry-wide transition to DDR memory on both the leading processor platforms,'' Wen Chi Chen, president of Via, in a statement released by the company. ``DDR provides the most appropriate memory solution for solving the system-performance bottleneck.'' Hyundai, Micron and Infineon are currently involved in lawsuits with Rambus. Hyundai and Micron last month charged Rambus with violations of anti-trust laws in the U.S. Rambus filed countersuits against those two companies and Infineon, saying the companies are infringing on patents it claims over a wide range of memory standards, including DDR. Rambus-standard chips currently account for less than five percent of the memory chip market. Supplies are limited because the chips are more costly to make compared with alternatives such as DDR. Limited supplies of Rambus chips have forced Intel to support alternatives for use with the Pentium 4 processor. Chipsets manage the flow of information between a processor and other parts of a computer such as memory and the display. Via follows Taiwan competitor Acer Laboratories Inc., which earlier this year announced a DDR chipset. The companies are the only two that currently supply DDR chipsets. Via's shares fell as much as 5.5 percent to NT$380. They were most recently at NT$400.