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

To: Ian Davidson who wrote (47967)	2/17/1998 9:38:00 AM
From: greenspirit	Respond to of 186894

Hi Ian, thanks, here's another article... Only if pushed will Intel push Pentium... February 17, 1998 PC Week via Individual Inc. : I'm surprised we haven't heard a peep about a 266MHz Pentium for desktop PCs from Intel by now. Maybe we won't. Are you surprised that I'm surprised? Each day, it seems, there's another headline about the low-cost Pentium II processors Intel plans for the sub-$1,000 PC segments due later this year. Indeed, everything the company says and does nowadays screams the end of Pentium. So why am I waiting for a new, improved Pentium processor? Because shifting the market to Pentium II may be Intel's main objective, but it isn't the company's only goal. Making more money and maintaining market share are others. That's why Intel surprised the market with a 233MHz Pentium with MMX last spring. With that part, you may remember, Intel risked making the 233MHz Pentium II less attractive, thereby delaying the shift to Pentium II. And yet, Intel produced the part--primarily to block AMD from sneaking its 233MHz K6 into Intel-based systems. Now, AMD has a 266MHz K6--on the drawing board, at least. So an MMX-enabled 266MHz Pentium could help keep the AMD part from stealing market share. And don't forget, Intel can make Pentium processors for a lot less money than Pentium II processors--even cacheless, 266MHz Pentium IIs like the rumored Covington part. So, with the market shifting to lower-cost PCs (read: systems built around lower-priced processors), Intel could pad its margins with the faster Pentium. Now you're scratching your head, too, I'll bet. Why haven't we heard anything about a 266MHz Pentium for the desktop? Manufacturing isn't the issue. If Intel can wring 266MHz out of a notebook part, then it could easily make 266MHz and even 300MHz Pentiums for desktop PCs. (It's easier to make faster desktop processors because they operate at higher voltages.) Perhaps Intel's manufacturing isn't the issue. Maybe Intel's betting that AMD can't deliver on its 266MHz devices. Not a bad bet, mind you. AMD has had its share of problems making K6s--and has yet to resolve them. If AMD doesn't deliver faster K6s--millions of them--Intel doesn't have to worry about losing customers. It will lose only some margin by shipping more costly Pentium IIs in low-end PCs. And that's a lot easier to make up later ... when you have the customers. Speaking of AMD, I have to believe the company is secretly developing a processor that will fit into Slot 1--the receptacle for Pentium II on PC motherboards. Officially, AMD's planned K7 processor will interface with the system by using Digital's high-speed Alpha bus. But the company has to know that a plug-in replacement for Pentium II will be easier to sell to mainstream PC makers. AMD is prohibited from using the Pentium II bus, something it reportedly agreed to when it signed a cross-licensing agreement with Intel three years ago. But maybe AMD has found a legal loophole. Or, given the antitrust climate in Washington, it's willing to take chances. Or not. Stay tuned. Mike Feibus is a principal for Mercury Research, which provides market research and consulting services to component and systems vendors. He can be reached at mike@mercury.org. _____________________________________________________________________ Regards, Michael