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Technology Stocks : PC Sector Round Table -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gottfried who wrote (763)	8/30/1998 3:58:00 PM
From: LK2	Respond to of 2025

new version of cerleron by INTC FPUO (For Personal Use Only) zdnet.com Intel boosts Celeron's speed, gains big-name PC support By Robert Lemos, ZDNN August 24, 1998 3:27 PM PT Recovering from a misstep in the sub-$1,000 PC market, chip giant Intel Corp. unveiled two new processors in its Celeron line on Monday that are expected to give its competitors a run for their customers' money. "Lower-priced PCs have attracted a lot of attention," said Sean Maloney, vice president and director of worldwide sales for Intel (Nasdaq:INTC), during the one hour presentation. "These newest Celeron processors fit right into that market." Intel also briefed press and industry analysts on its 450MHz Pentium II. The new chip replaces the 400MHz Pentium II as the fastest mainstream Intel processor, and won't lose its crown until Intel's 500MHz processor with "Katmai" multimedia instructions comes out early next year. The new Celerons garnered the most attention at Monday's announcement. "This is the 'good' version of the Celeron processor," said Mike Feibus, principal analyst with semiconductor technology watcher Mercury Research Inc. When originally released, the Celeron was considered underpowered and overpriced -- a "dog," as one analyst even referred to it. The new Celeron processor -- designated as "Celeron A" -- boosts performance by 25 percent by adding fast memory on the chip. This puts it within hailing distance of a Pentium II at the same speed. "This version is a completely different part ... within 5 percent of a similar-speed Pentium II on some benchmarks," said Jim Turley, a senior analyst with MicroDesign Resources Inc., sister to ZDNN. No more 'celery' jokes Despite its good speed, the Celeron is priced for the bargain basement. While a 333MHz Pentium II weighs in at $316, the 333MHz Celeron costs only $192. The new price-performance point could rein in the successful run of Intel's competition -- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE:AMD) and National Semiconductor Corp's (NYSE:NSM) Cyrix subsidiary. The two have been able to take 55 percent of the retail sub-$1,500 PC market. "Until today, [AMD and Cyrix] were doing very well," said Turley. "Almost all of their success has been at the low end and at Intel's expense. Now, there is going to be a pricing squeeze." AMD's K6-2 processor, which AMD compares to a Pentium II, is priced at $237 for the fastest 333MHz chip and $157 for the 300MHz chip. On certain 3-D games, the K6-2 can match a faster Pentium II, but in general the chip has a hard time measuring up. In fact, in most ways it's comparable to Intel's older Pentium MMX processors. But that may be good enough. "In leading-edge speed, Intel is a step or two ahead of us," said Scott Allen, vice president of worldwide marketing for AMD. "We want to be in the sweet spot of the market -- the K6-2 keeps us there." Celeron finally gets support Quite a few companies are jumping on board with systems based around the new Celeron. Gateway Inc.'s G6-333c uses the 333MHz Celeron with 64MB of SDRAM, 6.4GB hard drive, a DVD-ROM drive, 17-inch monitor, 56Kbps modem and a color printer for $1,568. Packard Bell is using the new 333MHz Celeron in its Multimedia 949 system, which includes a 4.3GB hard drive and 64MB of SDRAM for $999 (without a monitor). Other systems are expected from Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp. The support puts AMD and Cyrix's mettle to the test, but analysts expected both to weather the storm by cutting prices even lower. "I don't think the sky turns black and the earth opens up just yet," said Turley. "But the competition will mean that prices will be slashed by year's end." Copyright (c) 1998 ZDNet