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

To: gnuman who wrote (40453)	11/15/1997 9:27:00 PM
From: Xpiderman	Respond to of 186894

Intel Road Map: A Pentium II For All Systems - Intel wants it all by Mark Hachman Posted 6:00 p.m., November 14, 1997 No longer satisfied with the high end of the computer market, and determined to fend off competitors on the low end, the chip manufacturer has come up with a plan to flood the desktop-computer market with Pentium II processors, confidential company road maps show. From the fastest, most expensive servers to the most humble sub-$1,000 PC, Intel will price the Pentium II to move. And by September 1998, the company expects to have versions of its flagship chip that fit the budget of every desktop designer on earth. At the top of the line will be a 400-MHz processor featuring ECC L2 cache with a May 1998 price of $851 in 1,000-unit lots. At the bottom rung, there's a 233-MHz chip with non-ECC cache for $209. A spokeswoman for Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel declined to confirm either the prices or the chip introductions, which were detailed in documents circulated to computer manufacturers and distributors late last month. However, she did say the company "intends for the Pentium II to become ubiquitous, and our pricing will reflect that." Intel's new agenda first came to light a little more than a week ago, when its top officials briefed analysts at a meeting about a "horizontal" marketing program. Rather than simply make new microprocessors for the fastest computers and wait for them to move down the food chain, Intel will now tailor each of its new chips to a specific class of machine, the analysts were told. "It all adds up to a multisegmented strategy, which we will service with multiple products and system-level solutions," Andrew S. Grove, Intel's chairman and chief executive, told analysts at the meeting. "We are dedicated, and expect to be leaders in each of these segments." For the basic PC, Intel is considering a plan to combine everything from discrete graphics and modem chips to memory in a single chip set. However, the initial focus will be on reducing the cost of the Pentium II. The integrated functions would most likely be included in specialized core logic or executed in software, such as DVD decoding, executives said. According to the Intel road map, the Pentium with MMX technology will be eliminated by August 1998, and be replaced with a cache-less 266-MHz Pentium II that will begin to roll off the fab lines in the second quarter of 1998, rather than in the first quarter as originally scheduled. That chip will be followed in the fourth quarter of 1998 by a 300-MHz Pentium II with integrated cache. Intel has not provided pricing for either part, but analysts assume they will cost less than $200 each. And the introduction of these two chips may be even further accelerated. "I believe you can expect these two products to appear earlier [in the year] than we've [currently] indicated," Grove told analysts during a lunchtime discussion following the formal briefing last week.

To: gnuman who wrote (40453)	11/15/1997 9:27:00 PM
From: Monica Detwiler	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 186894

Gene - you said that only 25% of Intel's shipments are Pentium 2's but that it is "it's becoming obvious there is a glut of PII PC's in the channels. " Why is this obvious - what channel information do you have? And what happens to the 75% of the Intel chips that aren't Pentium 2s? Are these going to be given away by the channel? Monica

To: gnuman who wrote (40453)	11/16/1997 11:02:00 PM
From: Fred Fahmy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Gene, I can't understand why you continue to focus your analysis only on the low end. Intel's is in a commodity business?? How many people are making chips for the high end/server market or for mobile computing? These are the real areas of revenue/earnings growth and opportunity. The low end is gravy. Intel has plenty of opportunity to gain share at the high end from UNIX based machines, mid size AS400 type boxes, and mainframes. Merced has already been widely endorsed as the next path of migration by all of the key tech companies. An article in the latest PC Magazine said that Intel's strategy is clearly to become as dominant in the server/high end arena as they have become in the desktop arena. While Intel is not ignoring the low end and will get more than their fair share of this segment, I think their strategy of continuing to focus first and foremost on the high end market is obviously the correct strategy. Finally, everyone may choose to believe or disbelieve what Intel says publically. However remember that Intel clearly stated in the Q3 CC that despite very strong growth in the Segment 0 business, their workstation, server, and mobile businesses grew even more. Of course many Intel bashers simply think Intel is lying to investors and analysts. BTW, did you ever go long AMD like you were telling me you were thinking about back when it was in the 30's?? Good luck, FF