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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: daniel dsouza who wrote (38805)	11/3/1997 7:45:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 186894

ntel May Attack Low-End Consumer Market (11/03/97; 3:05 p.m. EST) By Mark Hachman, Electronic Buyers' News Intel this week plans to attack the low-end consumer market with a stripped-down Pentium II module, EBN has learned. Intel is expected to unveil a low-cost Pentium II built upon the Slot 1 interface that eliminates the cache SRAM SRAM from the Pentium II module, according to Charles Boucher, a San Francisco-based analyst for UBS Securities Equity Research. Intel has completed the first round of non-disclosure briefings to financial and industry analysts. The first processors to appear in this form factor will likely be of the 0.25-micron Deschutes generation, according to Nathan Brookwood, microprocessor analyst at Dataquest. "However, by the introduction of Deschutes, the low end might well be 300 MHz," Brookwood said. The new Pentium II will eliminate the cache SRAM and "some of the costly mechanical components" to bring the Pentium II subsystem cost down to levels that are compatible with PC system price points in the $1,000 to $2,000 range, Boucher wrote. The chip would use the Slot 1 interface currently used by the Pentium II. Eliminating the Level 2 cache will result in lowered performance: However, this shouldn't be a concern for OEMs, Brookwood said. In fact, in multimedia applications, the on-chip Level 1 cache can still hold the necessary instructions for processing, while the data typically overflows the cache in any event. "The low-end of the PC market is characterized by features and price, not performance," Brookwood said. "If an OEM can offer Slot 1 and AGP [graphics], who cares what the actual performance is?" In downgrading Intel's stock rating from "buy" to "hold", Boucher raised concerns about the dilution of Intel ASPs caused by Intel's revised product focus, as well as the lower-than-expected price cuts on its processor lineup. These factors, combined with a lack of improvement in PC and motherboard build rates, should pressure Intel's gross margins downwards, Boucher reported. On the other hand, Intel's strategy simply allows Intel to bundle the same processor die with varying amounts of cache -- in incompatible form factors, Brookwood said. "Essentially, Intel can take a stripped-down Pentium II and sell it

To: daniel dsouza who wrote (38805)	11/3/1997 7:48:00 PM
From: Brian Malloy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 186894

This analyst seems to be engaging in some kind of faulty circular logic ;-) People Soft must compete against SAP-AG, Oracle and others; not an easy task INTEL has many competitors; but it has an easier relative task than People Soft SAP-AG and INTEL are now working closely together Therefore Buy People Soft? Only time will tell, but I'm not counting on it. Regards, Brian

To: daniel dsouza who wrote (38805)	11/3/1997 7:48:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 186894

Intel May Attack Low-End Consumer Market, Part II in the $100 price range," Brookwood said. "They can then add a large amount of cache, and sell it for higher prices." For example, the Pentium Pro with 1 megabyte of cache sells for nearly $3,000, Brookwood added.