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To: rudedog who wrote (27185)	6/5/1998 10:40:00 AM
From: FR1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Rudedog - Maybe you can settle some of the questions I have with Alpha (I just don't understand the arguments in favor of keeping it). Even though Merced is put off for a year, Intel is stepping up things in their other chips: zdnet.com INTEL SPEEDS UP CLOCK SPEEDS, DELIVERY OF 32-BIT CHIPS Just a week after delaying its 64-bit Merced chip six months, Intel announces a new two-word strategy for its 32-bit chips: Faster. Sooner. Intel announced delivery dates and clock speeds for Tanner, Katmai, Celeron and Pentium II Xeon have all been accelerated. The new roadmap has 350 MHz and 400 MHz Pentium IIs moving into volume production in July. Worth noting: The repositioning will lead to price reductions as Intel tries to avoid too much overlap in product lines. My problem is that so far I have only seen the following points: 1) If we are going to keep Alpha it means that we have decided to become a chipmaker (who just sold its fab plant). 2) We have only one chip to sell. To be a chipmaker you have to carry the staff (designers, etc) that a chipmaker has - all for one chip. 3) You need to continually come up with R&D improvements, advancements, etc. 4) Your relationship with other chipmakers becomes a little more strained if you are in direct competition ("Let's favor DELL more than CPQ in prices, etc, because CPQ is a direct threat to us."). 5) With announcements like the above, you can see that Intel is closing the gap even though Merced is delayed. 6) There is a whole army of other chipmakers out there that have a whole line of chips. 7) DELL is now offering 400Mz units cheap and so are others -with faster chips to follow soon. 8) Anybody that buys a Alpha can only use it for NT/UNIX stations (a very limited market). So the question is: Why would anyone want to buy a Alpha and why should CPQ keep Alpha? I know there must some arguments here other than "We spent so much money on this white elephant that we can't afford to get rid of it." Can you outline the financial and technical arguments that favor Alpha? Franz