x86 Headline NewsFor the week of April 6, 1998 |
|||||||||||
Intel
Secrets Home Page x86 Headline News Dr. Dobb's
Journal Intel
Inside -- Productivity
Enhancements Intel
Secrets, Bugs and Intel Data
Sheets and |
|
Week of April 6, 1998 |
Older News |
April 10, 1998 | ||||||||
AMD credit rating lowered to negative outlook by S&PBy Staff Writer April 10, 1998 |
Struggling with losses and a competitive
marketplace, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has received a
lower credit rating from Standard & Poor, which
expressed concern about AMD's ability to execute its
business plan. AMD's rating for bank loans, senior secured debt, and corporate credit was lowered by Standard & Poor to single-'B' from double-'B'-minus. S&P said the outlook is now negative. |
|||||||
3 new Intel chips due next weekBy Michael Kanellos April 9, 1998 |
Intel (INTC) will roll out Celeron, a
controversial processor aimed at sub-$1,000 PCs and
set-top boxes, this coming Wednesday at the Palace of
Fine Arts in San Francisco. Simultaneously, Intel will unveil two high-end Pentium II chips running at 350 MHz and 400 MHz. |
|||||||
April 9, 1998 | ||||||||
AMD Charts Its Own DirectionBy Kelly Spang April 7, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. executives
said the chip maker has revised downward its unit
projection for the K6 processor and is shifting to a more
customer driven strategy. The changes follow on the heels of AMD's dismal first quarter results. For the quarter, ended March 29, AMD reported a net loss of $55.8 million, or 39 cents per share, on revenue of $540.9 million. |
|||||||
Expect "Hot" AMD-Powered Aptivas From IBM Today(04/08/98; 10:46 a.m. EST) By Doug Olenick April 8, 1998 |
Wednesday, IBM will introduce two
AMD-powered additions to the Aptiva E Series, the first
such systems in what is considered the "hot"
$1,000-to-$1,500 price range. The E56 started shipping Tuesday, and E84 will follow later this week, with expected street prices of $1,399 and $1,499, respectively, said Jim Bartlett, vice president of marketing for Aptiva products at Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM (company profile). |
|||||||
April 8, 1998 | ||||||||
AMD posts loss, blames yieldsBy Jeff Pelline April 7, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) today
posted a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss that it
blamed on yield problems and an industry slowdown. The chipmaker reported a $55.8 million loss, compared with a profit of $12.9 million for the like quarter a year ago. The quarterly loss of 39 cents per share was below the mean estimate of a 29-cents-per-share loss predicted by Wall Street analysts, according to First Call. |
See Today's Related Stories | ||||||
AMD Says K6 Yields Solved, But Has It Turned Corner?By Mark Hachman April 8, 1998 |
"We're back!" crowed Advanced
Micro Devices' chairman and CEO W.J. Sanders III,
celebrating the company's successful transition to higher
manufacturing efficiencies. Even though AMD [AMD] shares moved lower, opening down 1 7/8 to 28 5/8 in early trading, Wall Street seemed to agree with Sanders. |
|||||||
An open letter to Craig BarrettBy Michael Slater APril 8, 1998 |
Dear Craig: Congratulations on your
promotion to chief executive officer at Intel. It is
richly deserved. I have a suggestion for your first executive order: Open up Slot 1. Intel's current proprietary stance is doing unnecessary damage to what remains of the third-party chip-set industry and it has every appearance of being designed to reduce competition and raise prices for system-logic chip sets. |
|||||||
IBM May Be Eyeing AMD Investment, Report SaysBy Margaret Ryan April 7, 1998 |
A day before Advanced Micro Devices
(AMD) was due to release its financial results for the
first quarter, an analysts' report had Wall Street
buzzing about the possibility of an IBM investment, and
about whether manufacturing yields have indeed improved
on the K6 processor. Monday's report, by Ashok Kumar and Paul H. Mansky of Piper Jaffray, in Minneapolis, was issued as part of initiating coverage of AMD (company profile), with a buy rating and a $40, 12-month price target for 1998. The Sunnyvale, Calif., chip maker is due to release first quarter results after the close of the market Tuesday. |
|||||||
AMD to offer 300-MHz K6By Staff Writer April 7, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. today
introduced a 300-MHz version of its K6 microprocessor,
which is being fabricated here in AMD's Fab 25 plant
using a 0.25-micron process technology. The 300-MHz processor will sell for $246 each in quantities of 1,000, beginning April 15. AMD is also offering a 266-MHz K6 processor using the quarter-micron technology. It will sell for $156 each in 1,000-piece quantities. |
|||||||
IBM PCs tout AMD chipsBy Michael Kanellos April 7, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) released
the fastest K6 processor yet and IBM (IBM) immediately
announced a new consumer model featuring the
top-of-the-line chip. IBM's introduction came just before AMD announced its earnings report for the first quarter. IBM appears to be cooperating closely with the Sunnyvale, California, chipmaker, as reported yesterday by CNET's NEWS.COM. |
|||||||
450-MHz Pentium II for digital TVBy Jim Davis April 7, 1998 |
As part of an effort to find new markets
for its processors, Intel (INTC) is demonstrating a
future Pentium II processor running digital TV at the
National Association of Broadcasters convention here. The demonstration is central to Intel's belief that the PC architecture is powerful enough to serve as the digital television receiver of the future. |
|||||||
Today's Related Stories | ||||||||
AMD vows to match -- and beat -- Intel pricesBy Charles Cooper April 7, 1998 |
Price war, anybody? Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Tuesday pledged to price its K6 microprocessor at least 25 percent lower than comparable Pentium products sold by archrival Intel Corp. The fighting words came on the heels of another disappointing quarterly performance for the Sunnyvale, Calif., chip maker. AMD (AMD) lost 39 cents in the quarter, 15 cents per share more than Wall Street analysts polled by First Call had expected. |
|||||||
AMD 1Q Falls ShortBy Gabrielle Jonas April 7, 1998 |
Citing market conditions as well as the
Asian economy, Advanced Micro Devices fell short of Wall
Street's already low expectations Tuesday with first
quarter loss of 39 cents a share. And the market conditions and Asian problems will continue, AMD said. |
|||||||
AMD's Q1 loss totals $55.8 millionBy Staff Writer April 8, 1998 |
The first quarter of 1998 was a brutal
one for Advanced Micro Devices Inc. here. AMD today reported a net loss of $55.8 million on sales of $540.9 million in the quarter, ended March 29. The company's sales slipped 2% compared to the first quarter 1997, when AMD reported revenues of $552.0 million and a net income of $13.0 million. |
|||||||
AMD Claims K6 Yields Solved, But Still Posts $55.8M 1Q LossBy Mark Hachman April 7, 1998 |
"We're back!" crowed Advanced
Micro Devices' chairman and CEO W.J. Sanders III,
celebrating the company's successful transition to higher
manufacturing efficiencies. Still, any jubilation was tempered by the fact that the Sunnyvale, Calif. semiconductor manufacturer Tuesday reported a net loss of $55.8 million on sales of $540.9 million for the first fiscal quarter 1998. Revenue was down 12% from the $613.1 million the company recorded in the fourth quarter 1997, with net income falling further from a net loss of $12.3 million, or a $0.39 per share net loss, versus analysts' consensus estimates of a $0.29 cents per share net loss, during the period. |
|||||||
April 7, 1998 | ||||||||
Advanced Micro CEO Is Said To Be Grooming New ChiefBy Ismini Scouras April 6, 1998 |
Jerry Sanders is grooming Atiq Raza,
chief technical officer, to replace him within the next
12 months as president and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices
(AMD), according to an analyst's report. "Unlike Jerry's brash personality, Atiq's soft demeanor should bode well for the company," said Ashok Kumar, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, in Minneapolis. |
See Today's Related Stories | ||||||
Intel, HP plan Merced's successorBy Michael Kanellos April 6, 1998 |
Merced, the 64-bit processor codeveloped
by Intel and Hewlett-Packard, isn't due until the second
half of 1999, but the two companies are already at work
on its more robust, and likely more influential,
successor. Code-named McKinley, this second chip in the Merced class of processors will come out in 2001, sources close to Hewlett-Packard said. The 64-bit processor will likely start at speeds of 1,000 MHz. Like the first Merced chip, McKinley will be aimed at high-end servers and workstations, especially those servers and workstations that can handle multiple microprocessors. |
|||||||
National Crystallizes Low-Cost PC-On-A-Chip Concept(4:45 p.m. EST, 4/6/98) By Andrew MacLellan April 6, 1998 |
Nearly two years since articulating its
vision to bring low-cost "information
appliances" to market, National Semiconductor Corp.
is crystallizing its system-on-chip strategy around a
device which integrates nearly every function of today's
multi-component PCs into less than $100 worth of silicon.
Speaking today at a Semico Research Corp. conference outside of Phoenix, National's chairman, president and chief executive Brian Halla said the low-cost, low-power, Microsoft-friendly device will tape out in December and begin shipping in volume in June 1999. |
See Today's Related Stories | ||||||
Fujitsu readies double-data-rate DRAMsBy Ron Wilson April 6, 1998 |
While DRAM vendors scramble to produce chips that comply with Intel Corp.'s stringent PC-100 memory module specification, the race is already on for the next generation of PC main-memory devices. Fujitsu Microelectronics Inc. is preparing to sample its first double-data-rate (DDR) DRAMs in the third quarter of this year, with production following by the end of the year. | |||||||
Challenging IntelBy C/Net Staff April 6, 1998 |
Trying to seize a rare moment of
vulnerability, IBM, AMD, and Cyrix are all racing to stay
ahead of Intel in the low-cost chip market through
partnerships and new technologies. And Wall Street seems
to be cheering them on.
|
|||||||
IBM backs AMD; Sanders may goBy Michael Kanellos April 6, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) apparently
has received an investment from IBM and has started a
process under which CEO Jerry Sanders may step down in
the next 12 months, according to an analyst's report. Although the company will likely post a substantial loss for the quarter that just ended, the fortunes of the microprocessor maker are rising, according to Ashok Kumar, semiconductor analyst for investment bank Piper Jaffray, which issued the report. |
|||||||
Cyrix chip aimed at sub-$500 PCsBy Michael Kanellos and Jim Davis April 5, 1998 |
National Semiconductor's Cyrix
subsidiary is developing a complete system on a chip for
sub-$500 computers as part of its effort to become the
king of low-budget computing, National is announcing
tomorrow. The chip, to be released next year, will be similar in concept to the MediaGX processor already made by Cyrix. The new product will essentially consist of a microprocessor with a number of even smaller processors with discrete functions, such as 3D graphics acceleration, grafted onto the same piece of silicon. This process of integration drives down the overall system cost. |
|||||||
Intel rivals gain on chip giantBy Reuters April 6, 1998 |
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
and National Semiconductor (NSM) both jumped today as
investors viewed the two Intel (INTC) rivals as being
increasingly better positioned against the semiconductor
giant in the low-cost PC market. On Monday, analyst Ashok Kumar of Piper Jaffray initiated coverage of Advanced Micro with a "buy" rating. He said that the company is achieving manufacturing improvements in production of its K6 processors, and that its yield problems are fixed. |
|||||||
Intel Plans $5 Billion In Capital SpendingBy Andy Patrizio April 6, 1998 |
The price of competition is expensive
for Intel, which plans to spend about $5 billion this
year on capital expenses, such as upgrades to its
existing fabrication facilities plug building new ones. While on a tour of Asia last week, president and chief operating officer Craig Barrett said more than $1 billion will be spent on its existing facilities in China, Malaysia, and the Philippines, and that's just to keep them up and running. |
|||||||
Intel's Grove by the numbersBy Suzanne Galante April 6, 1998 |
Intel (INTC) chief executive Andy Grove
exercised nearly $50 million in Intel stock during 1997,
according to a regulatory statement filed today. While the semiconductor company's stock appreciated less than 8 percent for the year ending 1997, at 70-1/4, it climbed as high as 100-1/8 last August. During the year, Grove exercised 648,000 stock options, valued at $48.96 million. As reported, Grove will step down as CEO next month, and will be replaced by chief operating officer Craig Barrett. Grove will remain chairman, however. |
|||||||
Today's Related Stories | ||||||||
Sanders Said To Be Grooming New AMD CEOBy Ismini Scouras April 6, 1998 |
Jerry Sanders is grooming Atiq Raza,
chief technical officer, to replace him within the next
12 months as president and chief executive of Advanced
Micro Devices Inc., according to an analyst's report. "Unlike Jerry's brash personality, Atiq's soft demeanor should bode well for the company," said Ashok Kumar, an analyst with Piper Jaffray Inc., Minneapolis. Raza was president and chief executive of Nexgen, the microprocessor maker that AMD acquired in October 1995. |
|||||||
National Plans To Launch PC-On-A-Chip Integrated CircuitBy Staff Writer April 6, 1998 |
National Semiconductor said Monday that
it plans to offer by the middle of next year a PC
system-on-a-chip integrated circuit (IC) built around
microprocessors it attained from its Cyrix acquisition. Santa Clara, Calif.-based National Semiconductor said its PC system-on-a-chip offering would replace the dozen or more ICs typically required for today's PCs, thus dramatically lowering the overall cost of a PC for both original equipment manufacturers and customers alike, while also improving PC performance. National, which announced the system-on-a-chip effort at the Semico Summit in Phoenix, said it plans to ship the highly integrated chips to customers by mid-1999. |
|||||||
National To Launch PC-On-A-Chip ICBy Staff Writer April 6, 1998 |
National Semiconductor Corp. on Monday
said it plans to offer a PC system-on-a-chip IC built
around microprocessors it attained from its Cyrix Corp.
acquisition by the middle of next year. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based National Semiconductor said its PC system-on-a-chip offering would replace the dozen or more IC typically required for today's PCs, thus dramatically lowering the overall cost of a PC for both OEMs and customers alike, while also improving PC performance. National, which announced the system-on-a-chip effort at the Semico Summit in Phoenix, plans to ship the highly integrated chips to customers by mid-1999. |
|||||||
Halla sketches National's PC-on-a-chip plansBy Anthony Cataldo April 6, 1998 |
Brian Halla, president and chief executive officer of National Semiconductor Corp., sketched an ambitious plan for National to roll out a "PC-on-a-chip" by mid-1999. In an address at the Semico Summit, which is being presented in Phoenix this week by Semicon Research Corp., Halla said he hoped the device would redefine the notion of a PC from a system that computes data to one that can convey information in a more intuititive fashion. | |||||||
National plans PC-on-chip by mid-1999By Staff Writer April 6, 1998 |
Aiming to expand the market for sub-$1,000 PCs, National Semiconductor Corp. here today disclosed its plans to integrate a personal-computer system on a single chip by mid-1999. The IC will replace a dozen or more separate chips and dramatically lowering the production cost of PCs as well as improving performance, according to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company. | |||||||
April 6, 1998 | ||||||||
SGS-Thomson to clone Intel's Slot 1 interfaceBy Anthony Cataldo April 6, 1998 |
SGS-Thomson Microelectronics has tipped
plans to develop a Pentium II-class processor that uses
Intel Corp.'s jealously guarded P6-processor bus, the key
interface behind Intel's proprietary Slot 1 processor
connector. While timing for the launch remains unclear,
SGS-Thomson could become the first competitor of Intel's
to clone the Slot 1 interface and thereby break open the
market for drop-in replacements of Pentium II-compatible
processors. Observers speculate that other X86 cloners
may invoke their own foundry agreements with IBM as a way
to shelter them from Intel's legal wrath, should they
decide to reverse-engineer the interface. IBM is believed
to have a broad cross-licensing arrangement with Intel
that includes access to P6-related patents. But the
sources added that they don't expect Intel to pull any
punches in what could prove to be a wide-ranging dispute
over |
Related Stories Chip maker Cyrix may copy the Pentium II bus Intel And National Settle Cyrix Suit Intel to let Cyrix copy Pentium II Intel: Pentium II not easy for Cyrix Cyrix break Pentium II monopoly |
||||||
Suppliers lie low with P6 chip setsBy Mark Carroll with additional reporting by Anthony Cataldo April 6, 1998 |
When Acer Laboratories Inc. announced
availability of Pentium II core logic early last month,
Intel Corp. said it would take legal action against any
unlicensed use of its P6 processor bus. That sent some
Taiwanese chip-set makers running for cover. But Acer Labs president Chin Wu said his company will press ahead. "I don't want to comment on the specifics of our P6 core logic product or how we will market it," he said. "I will say that we will sell a Slot 1 Pentium II core logic product and that our product won't violate Intel's IP." |
|||||||
New chip promises even cheaper PCsBy Reuters April 6, 1998 |
National Semiconductor Corp is expected
Monday to announce a new chip that could drive
personal-computer prices to less than $400 next year, the
Wall Street Journal reported. The move would undercut rival Intel Corp. (INTC) in a market already roiled by sub-$1,000 machines, the paper said. |
|||||||
National Semiconductor to unveil 'PC on a chip'By Reuters April 5, 1998 |
National Semiconductor Corp. plans to
announce on Monday a way to combine most of the chips
used in personal computers into a single chip, which
could bring PC prices under $500 and lead to a host of
new computing devices. National, the country's fourth-largest chip maker, said its new chip will replace a dozen or more separate chips typically found in PCs and combine technologies that it has developed and purchased in recent years. |
|||||||
Intel Rivals Set Sights On Low EndBy Kimberly Caisse & Jeff Bliss April 3, 1998 |
Cyrix Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices
Inc. believe they have found the chink in Intel Corp.'s
armor: sub-$1,000 PCs. Now they want to widen it. Following their success in the low-cost PC market, Cyrix and AMD will supply chips for a wide range of inexpensive handheld, notebook, network and desktop computers. |
|||||||
Intel Gets Flak For Supplying CacheBy Andrew MacLellan April 3, 1998 |
Intel Corp.'s decision to supply its own
cache for the workstation-class Slot 2 cartridge and
low-end Celeron processor has drawn criticism from some
of the world's top SRAM vendors, leading to industry
speculation that Intel might be loosening its SRAM
supplier ties. The Pentium II-based Slot 2 design, which Intel is introducing later this quarter, will use a custom Level 2 cache manufactured on the company's own 0.35-micron process technology, according to the Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker. And the recently introduced Celeron processor line for the low-end desktop PC will include both a cacheless version and a version with the L2 cache integrated directly into the processor core, the company said. |
|||||||
Intel's Barrett forecasts strong second-half salesBy Eric C. Fleming April 3, 1998 |
Intel Corp. president Craig Barrett said
that sales in the second half of the year will be strong,
possibly offsetting an expected revenue decline for the
chipmaker's first quarter, according to a Bloomberg News
report. Intel shares edged up 0.9 percent to $77.06 at 11:21 a.m. EST. |
|||||||
Intel Projects Quick Adoption Of Mobile PentiumBy Charlotte Dunlap April 3, 1998 |
Intel Corp. said Thursday it expects
quick adoption of its newest Pentium II processor aimed
at the mobile market. ''We expect the mobile Pentium II processor to be the fastest transition into the PC market,'' said Stephen Nachtsheim, vice president and general manager of Intel Mobile and Handheld Products Group. He said he expects 50 percent transition into hardware products within six to nine months. |
|||||||
Mobile PIIs Could Lift Average PricesBy Gregory Quick April 3, 1998 |
With notebook computer prices in a
tailspin, vendors and retailers welcomed the introduction
of mobile Pentium II processors yesterday as a precursor
to higher average sales prices, which promise higher
revenues and profits. Average advertised prices for notebook computers have fallen $300, or 15 percent, between February 1997 and February 1998, according to Beyen, an ad-tracking company based in Niagara Falls, N.Y. At the same time, the percentage of notebook computers advertised for more than $2,500 has been sliced almost in half from 27.8 percent in February '97 to 15.2 percent in February '98. |