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To: Dan3 who wrote (154996)	1/12/2002 12:03:22 PM
From: greg s	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 186894

Haven't found that pony yet? This sure looks like an EOL notice on embedded to me: This decision by AMD, with whom we have worked closely for many years, is a major blow to the embedded computer market. It is very surprising that their long-standing dedication to the embedded market has taken such an abrupt turn. As recently as October 2000 they announced new processors (the K6-2E+ and K6-IIIE+) and assured us of their continuing long-term support for the embedded market. August 13, 2001 Dear VersaLogic Customer: This letter is being sent to alert you to an important change in the long-term availability of several VersaLogic products. Please read it carefully. AMD, the supplier of CPU chips that are used on many of our products, has notified us that they plan to re-tool the production line that currently produces 486, 586 and K6 CPU chips. AMD needs to use their Fab 25 facility to produce a different line of products and will stop production on these CPU chips on June 28, 2002. The CPU chips produced by this facility are used in our VSBC-2, VSBC-6, VSBC-7, Panther, VL-686-2, and VL-586-1 products. This decision by AMD, with whom we have worked closely for many years, is a major blow to the embedded computer market. It is very surprising that their long-standing dedication to the embedded market has taken such an abrupt turn. As recently as October 2000 they announced new processors (the K6-2E+ and K6-IIIE+) and assured us of their continuing long-term support for the embedded market. Please note that this decision by AMD does not mean that they will immediately halt production or that these CPU chips will be in short supply. Normal production of these chips is scheduled to continue through June 2002. Last-time-buy orders can be placed in June for delivery of the chips in late 2002 and early 2003. VersaLogic management has been hearing rumors of this possible change (various versions of it) over the last few months and has been working closely with AMD to avoid this radical change in their direction. We prepared for the possibility that their decision would ultimately be to issue an end-of-life notice. Now that the decision has been made, our focus will be on assisting our customers with planning and migration issues over the next 12-24 months. Although this change is not immediate, each customer must look at the long term impact that this announcement will have on their product usage. In some cases this will mean placing an end-of-life purchase order with VersaLogic to continue delivery of the current product even after the AMD chips have been discontinued. For others it may involve qualifying new products, or using Intel Tillamook versions of our current products, for the current application. Tillamook versions of most impacted products will be available before year end. For further information please see the roadmap and migration information on our web site at versalogic.com or contact us directly at info@versalogic.com. Again, this change is not immediate, but planning steps should be taken now to assure a smooth transition in the future. We stand ready to support you as needed to make this transition as easy and painless as possible. Sincerely, Len Crane President P.S. Please excuse any duplicate copies of this message that you receive. We are making every effort to get this important information to the proper contacts within each organization in a timely fashion.

To: Dan3 who wrote (154996)	1/12/2002 12:05:55 PM
From: greg s	Respond to of 186894

More on the EOL: AMD Confirms End for Three Chip Families By Lisa Gill, www.NewsFactor.com Integrated circuits supplier Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD - news) surprised manufacturers this week with an announcement it would cease production of several key CPU chips. The discontinuation notice was given Monday for the older 486 and 586 families, as well as a newer K6 line. The chips are expected to be produced until July 2003, with orders taken until July 2002. AMD produces microprocessors, Flash memory devices, and support circuitry for communications and networking applications. The Sunnyvale, California-based AMD plans to use the facility that produces the three chips for another product line. Paul Smith, AMD's director of business marketing, told NewsFactor Network the company intends to shift its low-end Duron processors to the embedded production space, while customers will be asked to migrate to that processor from the K6 family. "We see the embedded PC marketplace to move to the embedded Duron in the two-and-a-half-year period. We're essentially transitioning to a higher performance product for embedded," said Smith. Ripple Effect The announcement affects companies like VersaLogic that use such chips in the production of high-speed processor modules and embedded computer chips and boards. A VersaLogic spokesperson told NewsFactor the company was surprised by the AMD move away from supplying embedded chips, and that the company expected support for the processors for another five years. "This is a time period much longer than what is standard in the integrated circuit systems to make something obsolete. We gave as much time as we could to our customers," said AMD's Smith, who acknowledged that VersaLogic would like to see the chips last longer in the marketplace. In a statement released Wednesday, VersaLogic sought to steer customers to a new Intel-based single-board component. "It's certainly VersaLogic's decision, but we believe we have a better product and better value than Intel does," said Smith, who said he believed a number of its other clients will make the switch. Expected To Last VersaLogic also explained that unlike the consumer PC market, medical and aerospace industry computers are built to remain up-to-date for five to 10 years, and suffer the most from embedded computer changes. "Obsolescence of a significant component such as the single board computer can require a costly and time-consuming redesign involving changes to the software, enclosure, and other related hardware," said the statement. According to an e-mail posted on VersaLogic's Web site, AMD's announcement comes on the heels of a commitment made last year to support the K6 line for an additional five years. "It's not as though we're abandoning the embedded marketplace, this is part of a continuing business lifestyle standard in most industries," explained Smith. Giant Steps Computer maker IBM confirmed Tuesday it would replace AMD chips in its North American computers with processors from market leader Intel (Nasdaq: INTC - news). IBM offered AMD chips last fall in custom-built computers. Compaq (NYSE: CPQ - news) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HWP - news) currently use AMD microchips in their computers.

To: Dan3 who wrote (154996)	1/14/2002 10:19:38 PM
From: Dan B.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Dan, As an unbiased observer who wandered into this space due to noticing some praise of greg s. elsewhere(concerning Ayn Rand), I'll note that you appear to be correct. Greg s. has himself posted information which indicates AMD intends to remain in the embedded market(post 154998- "...to move to the embedded Duron in the two-and-a-half-year period. We're essentially transitioning to a higher performance product for embedded," said Smith), and believes its strategy of switching to Duron based embedded products will offer better embedded value. They do appear willing to sacrifice at least one customer to make this apparently too swift switch. So unless I'm missing something, and final results aside, it is difficult to imagine how one can defend the statement "AMD has shuttered its embedded division," when in fact AMD states they are moving ahead to offer a more advanced embedded product. Lessons/comments welcome, Dan B