Wall Street Journal on AMD and Intel:
Intel's Rivals Pose Greater Challenge By Offering Faster and Better Chips
By DEAN TAKAHASHI
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Intel Corp.'s rivals are stepping up their attack on the chip industry's most profitable franchise. At a closely watched technology conference here, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., National Semiconductor Corp., Rise Technology Co. and others are expected to disclose details of new chips that use the same software as the Intel chips that provide the computing power in most personal computers. Though such announcements have become routine, analysts say some of the new chips will pose an unusually credible challenge to Intel's performance leadership.
AMD, an Intel nemesis that historically has competed on price, will
discuss a chip called K7 that is expected to debut in the first half of 1999 at speeds greater than 500 megahertz, very close to the top speed of chips expected from Intel.
"Nobody represents as much of a threat to Intel as AMD does," said Michael Slater, editorial director of Micro Design Resources Inc., a Sebastopol, Calif., research company that organized the Microprocessor Forum here. "They have the manufacturing capability, the desire and, for the first time, the technology."
Atiq Raza, chief technology officer at AMD, Sunnyvale, Calif., said the new chip builds upon AMD innovations in three-dimensional graphics, handling multiple computing tasks simultaneously, and the speed with which it can transfer data. For those reasons, he added, the K7 should broaden his company's focus from low-end computers.
"It can expand our market reach," Mr. Raza said. "And it even holds the promise of being the fastest when it comes out."
AMD has come close to matching Intel's performance in the past, only to stumble because of delays in perfecting technology or production
processes. Its current K6 chip has lagged Intel's fastest chips by three to six months. Mr. Raza said the new K7 should keep pace better since AMD plans to increase its speed several times in the 12 to 18 months after its introduction.
But Intel, which reports third-quarter earnings Tuesday, far outspends
rivals in chip-design and manufacturing technology. The company last
week laid out its roadmap for a series of new products, including one due out next year dubbed Katmai that will compete with the K7 and other new products. At the conference, the company is also expected to give an update on the shift to an entirely new computing architecture, starting with a chip in mid-2000 called Merced.
Regarding the AMD chip, an Intel spokesman said "it's difficult to make comparisons with products that are not yet in the market." Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Inc., said recent history suggests that Intel is likely to better deliver on expectations than its rivals.
AMD also is expected to announce this week that Packard Bell NEC Inc., a longtime Intel customer, also will begin using AMD chips in some
portable and desktop machines. The Sacramento, Calif., PC maker began
using chips from Intel rival National Semi this summer, but it hasn't used AMD before.
National Semi, based in Santa Clara, Calif., is expected to disclose more details about a couple of chips that it plans to debut next year, its MXi microprocessor due in March or April, and its Jalapeno microprocessor, due in early 2000.
Steven Tobak, vice president of corporate marketing at National, said the MXi's performance will be a strong competitor to Katmai. But he said its features, which include integration of other chips such as graphics into the microprocessor, should enable it to fit in lower-cost systems than comparable Intel chips.
Rise, a secretive startup also based in Santa Clara, will describe its first chips, aimed at low-end desktop and laptop machines.
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Notes:
1) Packard Bell will use K6-2 in their product line.
2) On the bad-ass K7
...a)"Nobody represents as much of a threat to Intel as AMD does," said Michael Slater, editorial director of Micro Design Resources Inc.
"They have the manufacturing capability, the desire and, for the first time, the technology."
...b)Mr. Raza said. "And it even holds the promise of being the fastest when it comes out."
...c)Regarding the AMD chip, an Intel spokesman said "it's difficult to make comparisons with products that are not yet in the market."
And of course our Asshok Skumar has spoken one again. This scum bag needs to be locked up.
Maxwell |
