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Technology Stocks : Rambus (RMBS) - Eagle or Penguin -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Don Green who wrote (20620)	5/22/1999 6:23:00 AM
From: unclewest	Respond to of 93625

May 20, 1999 (Tech Web - CMP via COMTEX) -- Two weeks after Intel withdrew its lawsuit against chip set maker Via Technologies, executives at Via are still bitter about the action taken by the chip maker. "I believe Intel is really worried, and the lawsuit was meant to intimidate us and perhaps OEM customers," said Dean Hays, vice president of marketing for VIA, at the company's U.S. subsidiary in Fremont, Calif. "It was totally off base, because our Intel license definitely covers any VIA chip set that might be of concern to Intel." Intel had filed a breach-of-contract suit against VIA, chargingthe Taiwanese company with trying to sell an unlicensed logic chip set, according to court documents filed in San Jose, Calif. On the same day the lawsuit was filed, Intel withdrew it. The Santa Clara, Calif. company has consistently refused to talk about its surprising legal flip-flop, except to say that the suit against VIA was mistakenly issued by its outside counsel. Intel's perplexing action in filing and then immediately withdrawing the VIA suit comes just after the chip maker had settled an antitrust case with the Federal Trade Commission over earlier licensing disputes with Compaq Computer, the former Digital Equipment, and Intergraph. Some industry observers pondered if Intel's admitted "mistake" in filing the VIA lawsuit involved second thoughts on how this action might affect the just-concluded FTC settlement. A copy of the withdrawn VIA suit revealed that Intel had wanted a restraining order against VIA selling unspecified chip sets using Intel technology that allegedly had not been licensed to the Taiwan company. Hays said all of Via's current and upcoming chip sets that connect to Intel's Celeron and Pentium processors are covered by the license agreement. Hays also said the license includes the upcoming VIA integrated chip set using Trident Microsystems' graphics accelerator core that will compete head on with Intel's integrated chip set also using Trident technology. Hays speculated that Intel might be upset with VIA's imminent chip set connecting PC133 SDRAM memory with Intel processors, since the microprocessor giant is doing all in its power to head off PC133 in favor of Direct Rambus DRAMs The Intel complaint didn't identify the specific VIA chip sets in question, but the suit said VIA "began in February and March, 1999 demonstrating the chip sets to OEMs and providing samples to OEMs for evaluation purposes, and informing OEMs that the chip sets would be available for delivery in the third quarter of 1999." That could describe either the projected VIA PC133 or integrated Trident graphics chip sets for Intel's Celeron and Pentium processors. Hays said VIA had specifically obtained the Intel license to let it offer the PC133 and integrated graphics chip sets without any legal question. "We could have simply gone to any of a number of semiconductor firms that have cross-licensing agreements with Intel and had them make the chip sets for us under their Intel license," he added. -0- Copyright (C) 1999 CMP Media Inc.

To: Don Green who wrote (20620)	5/22/1999 6:29:00 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 93625

May. 21, 1999 (Electronic Buyers News - CMP via COMTEX) -- Despite the delay in Intel Corp.'s launch of its 820 chipset and lingering uncertainty about the time frame for the industry's adoption of the Direct Rambus DRAM interface, the world's three leading connector makers are preparing for a strong surge in demand for parts compliant with the Rambus memory systems. AMP Inc., FCI Electronics Worldwide, and Molex Inc. have each been developing connectors for Rambus in-line memory modules (RIMMs) for more than a year, and none of the three has backed off of its efforts on that front as a result of Intel's scheduling shift. In March, Intel pushed back the high-volume delivery date for the Intel 820, or "Camino," chipset until late in the third quarter. The chipset, which features the 800-MHz Direct RDRAM interface, was a key component in many PC OEMs' planned transition to the new memory. It had been expected to be widely available in June. And while the delay has spurred some Direct RDRAM chip makers and OEMs to re-evaluate their product plans, raising questions about how quickly the industry will adopt the new design, connector suppliers stand ready to deliver large volumes of parts that support the Direct RDRAM architecture. AMP, Harrisburg, Pa., earlier this month said its connectors for RIMMs have passed Rambus' validation testing and meet the impedance requirements that allow for transmission of data on the high-speed Rambus system. But while AMP can lay claim to bragging rights for being the first connector supplier deemed fully compliant with the Rambus specifications, its competitors are likely to follow soon. "AMP is first in being fully compliant and validated, but I think the others are close behind," said Subodh Toprani, vice president and general manager of Rambus' Industry Enabling Division. Toprani said he expects to see Molex and FCI Electronics, as well as some of the other connector makers that have been tooling up for the Direct RDRAM model, to be in full compliance with the Rambus specifications within the next three months. "I believe that the connector industry is more than poised to deliver as many connectors as the OEMs want this year and next year," he said. AMP is already geared up for high-volume production of RIMM connectors. "We have capacity now for about 800,000 per month, and we have plans in motion to get to 1.5 million per month by the September time frame," said Jim Leidy, marketing manager for AMP's global PC division. Although he acknowledged that AMP did re-evaluate its RIMM-connector program when Intel changed the Camino chipset time-frame, Leidy said the company did not retreat from its plans to supply the parts in mass quantities. AMP is already seeing strong demand from the top five U.S. PC manufacturers, he said. "We didn't slow things down, we just delayed the capital expenditures for additional capacity," Leidy said. "In June we'll decide whether we'll pull the plug for more capacity. One-and-a-half-million a month should be sufficient to cover us through the early ramp-up, but we're going to have to start in June if we're going to make the massive volumes they're talking about by the end of the year." Meanwhile, AMP's major U.S.-based rival, Molex, also stands ready to support Direct RDRAM. "We've ramped up into high-volume production as well," said Kevin Alberts, product manager for RIMM connectors at Molex, Lisle, Ill. Although he declined to provide specific capacity figures, Alberts said Molex continued full force with its RIMM-connector program in the wake of Intel's shift in timing. "We set forth a production plan several months ago, before the push-out, and we've followed through with that," he said. "We've continued with our tooling and production plans, and we're set for high volume right now. I would expect, as Rambus and Intel have been stating, that with the release of the 820 chipset, the demand will ramp very quickly." Executives at FCI Electronics-which, with the acquisition of Berg Electronics Corp. by Paris-based parent Framatome Connectors International, became a RIMM-connector supplier last fall-are likewise optimistic about demand for the products. "We are not focusing so much on the 'if' but more so on the 'when,'" said Michel Cuilhe, president and general manager of the Valley Green, Pa., company. "We are ramping up in production right now." -0- By: Richard Richtmyer Copyright 1999 CMP Media Inc.

To: Don Green who wrote (20620)	5/22/1999 7:20:00 AM
From: unclewest	Respond to of 93625

pc 133 folks give rmbs 10% of pc's by the end of the year. that is twice our original 5% estimate. thank you! this is the first article i have seen that makes it clear that even the pc 133 folks see themselves as a possible no cost interim improvement to sdram 100 while the world transitions to rambus 800 memory. with the coming explosion in streaming digital audio and video from the net, rambus will have to be in every net-connected pc. the statement about pc 133 memory availability problem is hilarious to me. how do they do this without memory???? the memory makers have to decide between 100, 133 and rmbs production. we know that 95% of dram mfrs are transitioning from 100 to 800 rdram. we know that sdram and ddrdram production is not profitable but rdram production is very profitable. then too, how can you sell pc 133 when the ceo of sony declares it to be unstable. anybody ever had a puter problem? how much unstable memory are you going to buy? why aren't pc 133 memories available? we have never seen one anywhere. why not? what kind of problems did sony and toshiba find? you know that the field testers can't wait to discover the flaws in pc133. i would not be surprised to see sony explain them to the public given the committment they have made to rdram. the fact that sony and toshiba stated they would not use high speed ddrdram due to instability, followed immediately with an announcement to invest $1 billion on 800 rdram production this year, said it all for me. do i sound like a broken record? unclewest May. 21, 1999 (Electronic Engineering Times - CMP via COMTEX) -- Taipei, Taiwan - Bucking the trend toward Direct Rambus memories, Taiwan's PC motherboard makers plan this week to sample systems using PC133 SDRAMs. While the boards are low-cost and straightforward to design, engineers here report, they acknowledge that any real performance increases over current 100-MHz SDRAM-based systems will have to wait for a faster Pentium III processor expected in the fall. Coppermine CPUs running a 133-MHz front-side bus from Intel Corp. are sampling here now and should boost PC133's acceptance after Coppermine's formal release in September. The PC133 mainboards use SDRAM that runs at 133 MHz instead of 100 MHz. "Developing PC133 mainboards was pretty straightforward," said Jerry Shen, associate vice president of R&D for Asustek Computer Inc. "There is almost no difference between a standard SDRAM board and a PC133 board." Other Taiwanese mainboard makers noted the ease of designing for PC133. "We currently have three PC133 products in the works," said Donny Chien, product marketing division manager for First International Computer Inc. (FIC). "There are virtually no added costs for either the memory or the core logic with PC133. There's a problem currently with an adequate availability of memory running at 133 MHz." The quickness with which the Taiwanese have been able to develop PC 133 boards appears to concern Rambus Inc. officials, who were here last week looking to obtain prerelease samples of Taiwanese PC133 mainboards. Asia's DRAM vendors and Taiwan's core-logic vendors have positioned PC133 memory as an interim competitor to Rambus's RDRAM. Taiwan's memory-module makers are also ready to sup-port PC133. "PC133 DIMM availability is good," said Robin Chang, associate director at Apacer Technology Inc. "By this June we will have 133-MHz DIMMs in mass production. Chang sees PC133 DIMMs as a major product through the end of the year. "The low-cost PC will drive the acceptance of PC133," he said. "Also, the move from 0.22- to 0.18-micron DRAM production will lower the price and fuel the market." Awaiting 4X AGP support Even though PC133 mainboards will be available here soon, the original boards will not show much of a performance increase over a standard Intel BX PC100 SDRAM board. "We will offer PC133 boards this month but won't go into mass production until July," said Shen. "Then Via Technologies Inc. will offer their PC133 core logic that supports 4X AGP, the 694X. I believe the combination of memory running at 133 MHz along with 4X AGP will be more popular." Some Taiwanese mainboard makers put off the PC133 until this September. "Until Intel's Coppermine CPU comes out that supports a 133-MHz front-side bus, there isn't much of a performance gain from PC133," said an R&D engineer for another major Taiwanese mainboard maker. "You can overclock a Pentium III 400-MHz CPU to run at a 133-MHz bus speed, but that's a fairly small market. We currently have engineering samples of Coppermine that we are developing for a second generation of PC133 boards." Other mainboard makers agree. "Until this September, PC133 is more of a marketing-driven product than a performance one," said Shen. "Bench tests show that 100-MHz SDRAM is better than PC133. PC133 has to have a 3 CAS latency. PC100 can run a 2 CAS latency." Chien at FIC agrees. "Having the front-side bus also running at 133 MHz will make PC133 mainboards more powerful," he said. For now, only Via has a PC133-compliant core-logic product, its 693. That will change soon, however. "Acer Laboratories Inc. (ALi) will offer a PC133 product in June that also supports 4X AGP," said Shen. More importantly, Taiwan's mainboard makers also have a version of Intel's 810 that supports a 133-MHz front-side bus and perhaps 133-MHz memory bus. "The 810 E (enhanced) is currently being sampled by mainboard makers here," said Chang. "It may support a 133-MHz memory bus." Taiwan's mainboard makers see PC133 as being the mainstream memory product through the end of this year. "I expect RDRAM to be about 10 percent of the memory market at year-end," said Shin. "PC133 will be popular until at least the year 2000. It can run on a standard four-layer pcb and hence there is little or no cost differential from standard SDRAM." -0- By: Mark Carroll