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To: John Rieman who wrote (26707)	12/15/1997 5:31:00 PM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

Cirrus integrated chip to enable $700 PC December 15, 1997 PC Week via Individual Inc. : The sub-$1,000 PC may be all the rage today, but Cirrus Logic Inc. believes its new integrated chip can get the price down to $700 in six months. The Fremont, Calif., company will combine audio, two-dimensional and three- dimensional graphics, and modem capabilities onto a single chip, separate from the CPU. These integrated processors are expected to yield desktop systems by mid-1998 that are priced as low as $700. At Comdex last month, Cirrus demonstrated its design in a sealed-chassis PC. Although Cirrus officials declined to disclose OEMs, the company is in discussions with "the top worldwide PC [and consumer electronics] companies,'' said Art Swift, vice president of business development in Cirrus' PC products division. "We will enable [OEMs] to get into this market quickly,'' Swift said. "The reference design is dynamic and will change.'' While the first iteration of the design will be used in consumer-oriented multimedia systems, Cirrus plans to develop a design with enterprise features such as Ethernet support, remote boot and remote power management features. Cirrus joins microprocessor companies Cyrix Corp./National Semiconductor Inc. and Intel Corp. in integrating several functions on a single chip. The market was pioneered by Cyrix, which released its MediaGX integrated processor in February. Compaq Computer Corp. was among the first PC companies to use the chip. Last month, Intel announced that it would also build integrated X86 processors, and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has already demonstrated a K6 processor with integrated 3-D functions. Cirrus' move into integrated products signals the end of its development of stand-alone graphics components. The reason, according to company executives, is the larger growth opportunity in integrated systems. "We are redeploying resources to focus on integrated strategies, although we will continue to support our existing graphics products,'' Swift said. While the low-cost PC market is indeed booming, other forces may have played a part in the move. Competition in the graphics market, especially 3-D, is getting increasingly fierce and crowded. Cirrus lost its No. 1 graphics supplier status to S3 Inc. in 1995, and microprocessor giant Intel is pouring major resources into developing 3-D processors and controllers of its own. <<PC Week -- 12-11-97>> [Copyright 1997, Ziff Wire]