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To: Ibexx who wrote (65761)	10/2/1998 5:40:00 PM
From: Paul Engel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Ibexx and Intel Investors - Sun's UltraSparc is in TROUBLE The following article "praises" SUN for looking to IBM to manufacture their already LATE AND DELAYED UltraSparc III. However, the reality is that SUN seems desperate in having to turn to a competitor to manufacture the UntraSparc III - that has been QUIETLY DELAYED UNTIL THE END OF 1999 ! techstocks.com Of course, only delays in Intel products get HYPED up by the ever vigilant members of the press. Paul {=============================} dailynews.yahoo.com Technology Headlines Friday October 2 4:21 PM ET IBM's chip prowess attracts Sun PC Week By Lisa DiCarlo, ZDNet Sun Microsystems Inc. may soon become the latest company to partner with IBM Microelectronics for chip manufacturing. The two companies are discussing a possible foundry deal for IBM to build UltraSPARC processors for Sun (Nasdaq:SUNW) , officials from both sides confirmed. Sun and IBM (NYSE:IBM) are mum on details of the negotiations, and it is not clear which Sun chips IBM would build. For Sun customers, such a deal would likely result in high-performance, cost-competitive chips based on IBM's leading-edge manufacturing processes, such as copper or silicon-on-insulator. "IBM has some pretty good process technology," Sun Chairman and CEO Scott McNealy said in a recent interview with PC Week. "There are some combinations being explored on all fronts." Relationship with TI still strong Sun has a long-standing partnership with Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN) to manufacture SPARC processors. While TI has struggled financially of late, McNealy stressed that Sun continues to have a strong relationship with TI as well as other chip suppliers. Sun, he added, can go "wherever the best process technology is." The Sun talks are the latest in a string of good news for the IBM chip division, which opened for business in 1992. The chip division earlier this year announced plans to develop the first copper-based chip, a PowerPC expected early next year, and also unveiled new silicon-on-insulator process technology. IBM Microelectronics originally developed ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) exclusively for other IBM divisions. Over a period of only a few years, IBM moved into profitable foundry work, producing memory, custom chip sets and PC processors for vendors without their own manufacturing facilities, such as Cyrix Corp. 50 percent and growing Merchant sales now account for 50 percent of the chip division's business, a percentage that is growing, said Ken Torino, director of semiconductor contract manufacturing for the division, based in Burlington, Vt. As it ramps up foundry work, the division is de-emphasizing its memory chips to less than 20 percent of its business, Torino said. The chip division still develops and sells ASICs to IBM's systems groups. It also manufacturers the PowerPC processors used in RS/6000 and AS/400 systems. IBM Microelectronics doesn't own an X86 core but had access to Cyrix's 6X86 technology through its foundry agreement with the Richardson, Texas, company. IBM also sold its own branded version of that processor. Cyrix/NSI move on But last month Cyrix, now owned by National Semiconductor Inc. (NYSE:NSM), dissolved the foundry deal with IBM and said it was taking its core technology with it. IBM, eager to compete in the low-cost Windows PC market, will have an x86 offering in 1999, predicted Linley Gwennap, editorial director of the Microprocessor Report, in Sebastopol, Calif. To do that, IBM plans to license an X86 core from ST Microelectronics Corp., sources said. "They have advantages over more established X86 chip companies, like their broad patent cross-license agreement with Intel [Corp.] and their own advanced fab, and they are one of the leaders in process technology," Gwennap said. Interestingly, its cross-licensing patents with Intel are part of what makes IBM such an attractive foundry partner. This lets Intel competitors, both CISC and RISC, use Intel's proprietary designs without infringing on its patents. Additional reporting by Rob O'Regan

To: Ibexx who wrote (65761)	10/2/1998 6:22:00 PM
From: rudedog	Respond to of 186894

Ibexx - Good to know you are OK - I am under water on LU, INTC, SAP - what a week.