Set-top silicon a wide-open game
By Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
May 10, 1999, 12:30 p.m. PT
URL: news.com
special report The set-top box phenomenon is opening up the processor market to a wide range of competitors, and in this new world Intel is only
one of the pack.
Instead, industry observers expect to see companies such as communications expert Broadcom, chip designer MIPS, Japanese conglomerate
Hitachi, and graphics chip manufacturer ATI Technologies determining the direction of the market.
i guess i'm not alone
The absence of a "Wintel"-like duopoly largely emerges from the technological and economic circumstances of this market. Set-top boxes at
this point simply don't appear to need--or they can't afford--the computing power offered by chips based around the Intel architecture.
By contrast, these various other companies offer a "less is more" experience for the set-top arena. Their processors provide the specific
computing power that consumers need for Web surfing, e-shopping, video playback, and communicating across the Internet. In addition, many
of these companies plan to fuse the communications, graphics, and other functions into the same piece of silicon for a "system-on-a-chip"
solution, which will make these less-expensive solutions even cheaper.
"Set-top boxes need a simple processor that does several things very well, and a lot are going to be MIPS based," said Kathleen Maher, an
analyst with Jon Peddie Associates, a Tiburon, California-based consultancy. "ATI is turning up in all sorts of set-top boxes. Broadcom is also
doing very well."
Cost, in many ways, is key in this market. Set-top boxes may sell for as much as $500--but in reality they will have to sell for closer to $200,
said Maher, a price ceiling that puts a lid on silicon costs. Intel's low-end Celeron chips start in the $65 range. Processors based around the
MIPS or Hitachi designs, however, might sell in the $20 range, said Allen Leibovitch, program manager at International Data Communications.
Integration and bundling will also work in favor of some of these companies. Broadcom, he points out, "has a great graphics processor. They
have a microprocessor through MIPS. They have MPEG decoders. They also have a cable modem."
The company essentially serves as a one-stop silicon shop for set-top makers. "They are also working toward a system-on-a-chip," Leibovitch
added.
Chips based around the MIPS design seem to be the ones most frequently popping up in set-top boxes, but they are by no means alone.
Hitachi should also be a strong contender in this market with its SH-3 and SH-4 processors, said Leibovitch. Additionally, "Intel has a pretty
good shot," with StrongARM, he added.
Although less expensive than PC processors, the MIPS, ARM, and Hitachi chips tend to pack a punch. MIPS processors are essentially
configured around the design used for SGI workstations' chips a few years ago. They don't cost much because the embedded versions of these
chips do not contain all of the functions of its predecessors. Like ARM, MIPS does not make chips itself, but licenses the design to companies
that do.
Maher, meanwhile, adds that ATI will likely be a common name in the business because of its graphics part. The company's graphics chips
are being incorporated into boxes from General Instrument, among other manufacturers. The company is also shopping around its own set-top
box design prototype, which uses a MIPS processor.
PC powerhouses still in the hunt
Still, Intel and other "X86" chip vendors are not giving up on their core architectures. Executives from Intel, AMD, and National Semiconductor
have all stated that their respective companies are searching out set-top opportunities. Both Intel and National have also stated separately that
they have landed to-be-announced design wins for set-top boxes.
The argument for the traditional PC architecture comes from the need for compatibility. These chips are optimized for Windows-based content,
and Windows-based content is increasing on the Web daily. As consumers begin to demand more performance from their set-top boxes,
set-top box makers will likely turn to these classic designs.
"The X86 core is the best solution for applications and plug-ins for the Net," said Steve Tobak, vice president of marketing at National.
"Consumers will want a Web browsing experience that is comparable to what they get on a PC."
National recently announced it was selling off its PC microprocessor division. However, the company is keeping the intellectual property and
design teams for its MediaGX line of integrated processors, which combine a standard PC processor core with graphics, audio, and other
functions.
Intel hedges its bets
Intel is pushing both StrongARM and Celeron for the set-top space. Interestingly, most of the design wins have so far been with Celeron, said
Paul Otellini, general manager of the Intel Architecture Business Group told an audience at the company's recent analyst meeting. Intel-based
set-top boxes may emerge by the third quarter of this year, other sources said.
"We have a separate standalone group focused on these devices," Otellini said. He emphasized that Intel is not tying its opportunities to
Microsoft. The set-top group is working with the Redmond giant, but also with Be Incorporated, Linux developers, and Wind River Systems.
Whether or not these predictions come true is an open question. Set-top boxes are becoming more complex, stated Maher.
"We want an Internet set-top box, a DVD player, digital VCRs, Internet gaming, blahdee, blahdee, blah," she said. General Instrument will soon
come out with the DCT 5000, an Internet set-top box with an optional hard drive. In other words, the future of the technology has yet to be
written.
Leibovitch, however, points out that the complexity that might require PC compatibility has yet to emerge. Price, therefore, will remain the
determining factor.
"[The Celeron] is still an expensive solution. It can't be integrated that well," he said. "The MediaGX is more of a maybe."
==================================
Japan's PC Sales in Week Ended April 25 Rise 74% on Year
Bloomberg News
May 9 1999 9:46PM ET
Japan's PC Sales in Week Ended April 25 Rise 74% on Year
Tokyo, May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Personal computer sales at large electronics stores in Japan rose 74 percent by volume in the week ended April 25 from the same period a year
earlier, the technology weekly Nikkei Market Access reported.
By value, sales rose 75 percent, benefiting Japan's largest PC makers NEC Corp., Fujitsu Ltd., IBM Japan Ltd., Toshiba Corp. and others, according to figures supplied to Nikkei
MA by private research company Gfk Japan, which tracks sales at about 2,000 electrical stores nationwide.
Gfk Japan monitors sales at stores run by about 55 electrical retailers. The figures cover approximately 25 percent of Japan's over-the-counter PC sales, and about 10 percent of
the total market.
Private research company IDC Japan Ltd. forecasts that domestic shipments of personal computers will rise 10 percent in 1999, the first gain in three years, as a surge in sales to
individuals offsets stifled corporate demand.
PC sales to individuals have surged since the release last July of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows98, and of Apple Computer Inc.'s iMac computer last August.
Compared to the previous week, sales during the week ended April 25 rose 8.3 percent by volume, and 6.2 percent by value.
The average price of PCs sold slipped to 227,520 yen ($1,881), from 232,090 yen the previous week.
The average price of desktop models sold fell to 201,966 yen, while notebook model prices slipped to an average of 253,428 yen.
======================================
Apple Computer to Start Selling Popular iMac Home PC at Sears
Bloomberg News
May 10 1999 2:21PM ET
Apple Computer to Start Selling Popular iMac Home PC at Sears
San Jose, California, May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Computer Inc. said it will start selling its iMac home personal computer at Sears, Roebuck & Co., the largest U.S. department
store company, in a bid to reach more first-time PC buyers.
Apple's iMac, the top-selling PC sold in stores for several months, will appear at about 825 Sears locations by Memorial Day weekend. Sears also will sell add-on devices for the
iMac, such as printers and disk drives. CompUSA Inc., the largest U.S. PC retailer, is now the only national chain that sells the iMac.
Interim Chief Executive Steve Jobs made the announcement at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California. The company has been making a comeback
since co-founder Jobs returned in late 1997 after a 12-year hiatus.
New products, led by the curvy, colorful iMac, have lifted the company's share of the PC market in recent quarters from less than 3 percent in 1997. The company returned to
profitability in fiscal 1998 after two years of losses.
Shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple rose 1/16 to 45 15/16 in midafternoon trading. Sears, based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, rose 2 1/8 to 52 1/4.
===========================================
Apple Computer to offer new PowerBook computer
SAN JOSE, Calif., May 10 (Reuters) - Apple Computer Corp. (AAPL - news) said on Monday that it was
offering its new PowerBook computers, its widely anticpated next-generation line of notebooks.
The new PowerBooks, unveiled by Apple's Chief Executive Steve Jobs at the company's annual Worldwide
Developers Conference, will feature Apple's PowerPC G3 processors, running at either 333 or 400
megahertz, the company said.
Measuring about 20 percent slimmer than the previous line of PowerBooks, the computers weigh about 5.9 pounds and can run up to five hours
on a single battery, it said.
The 333 megahertz version included a 4 gigabyte hard drive and would retail for $2,499 while the faster 400 megahertz model fitted with a
DVD-ROM drive and a 6 gigabyte hard drive would sell for $3,499, it said.
''The new PowerBooks are the fastest, lightest and longest battery life full-featured notebooks in the industry,'' Jobs said in a statement.
The release of the PowerBook has been much anticipated in the industry and is Apple's first major hardware product announcement since it
made a splash with its colorful iMac line of desktop computers last year.
* Built-in ATI Rage LT Pro video controller and 8MB of video memory;
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Gateway Turns Up the Heat on Entry Level Consumer Desktops
Which will use an ATI accelerator.
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Marc |
