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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lynn who wrote (54706)	3/24/1999 1:16:00 PM
From: Steven N	Respond to of 97611

Alpha chip is losing its shine It's losing against Intel, so Compaq is repositioning the once pioneering RISC processor. By Joseph C. Panettieri, Sm@rt Reseller March 23, 1999 5:50 PM PT These are difficult times for Compaq Computer and its Alpha processor partners. Faced with the realization that the RISC processor cannot compete against Intel in the volume desktop market, Compaq is quietly repositioning the chip for midrange to high-end workstations and servers. The move comes as Alpha clone makers struggle to survive. Sm@rt Reseller has learned that Enorex Microsystems Inc., a prominent maker of sub-$2,000 NT/Alpha workstations, has halted sales indefinitely. All calls to Enorex's sales lines are being forwarded to voicemail. Enorex's most recent spokesman, marketing guru Greg Michaels, has left the company. A switchboard operator at the company says Enorex does not have any representatives available for comment. Meanwhile, DeskStation Technology Inc. has exited the Alpha workstation and server market. A message on the company's home page reads: "DeskStation Technology no longer sells systems or processor module upgrades. We do still sell our motherboard products." Laments DeskStation president Don Peterson, "I just couldn't make a business case for selling Alpha systems anymore." R E A D MS Probe Grows? Alpha Chip for Sale?? Indeed, Alpha (5 percent) badly trails Intel (95 percent) in the NT workstation and server arena, according to internal estimates from Microsoft Corp. Remaining NT/Alpha clone makers--including Aspen Systems Inc., Carrera Computers Inc. and Polywell Computers Inc.--are branching out into the emerging Linux/Alpha market to supplement sales. The writing on the wall Problems in the Alpha market are hardly new. Last summer, several clone makers disclosed that Compaq had cut off co-marketing funds for the chip. The result: Many Alpha vendors could no longer afford to advertise their wares without Compaq's financial backing. Compaq--which acquired Alpha when it purchased Digital Equipment in 1998--remains committed to the high-performance RISC chip. However, attempts to position Alpha as a volume play in the sub-$2,000 desktop market appear all but dead. Though Compaq will continue to sell the low-cost Alpha systems, "it is accurate to say that we're positioning Alpha for higher-performance systems," affirms a spokesman for the company. Following Compaq's lead, most remaining Alpha OEMs now target specific vertical markets. Media 100 Inc., for instance, earlier this month introduced a sub-$6,000 video production workstation that runs Windows NT. As for DeskStation and Enorex: the former says it will never return to the Alpha clone market and the latter remains closed for business--perhaps forever. sn