x86 Headline NewsFor the week of October 5, 1998 |
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x86 Weekly News Collected By Robert R. Collins |
Week of October 5, 1998 |
Older News |
October 9, 1998 | ||
1000-MHz chips on tap for IntelBy Brooke Crothers October 8, 1998 |
Intel detailed a road map for upcoming
microprocessors that will extend variations of its
current technology well into the next century and range
up to 1000 MHz in speed. Most prominently, technology code-named Foster will represent a new processor "microarchitecture," according to Fred Pollack, director of measurement, architecture, and planning and Intel's microprocessor products group. |
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AMD K7 Details at Microprocessor ForumBy Michael Kanellos October 9, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices will provide the
details surrounding its next generation microprocessor,
the K7, next week at the Microprocessor Forum in San
Jose, California, and in all likelihood ignite a debate
on whether the company has come up with a way to expand
into the performance computing market. Future chip technologies from Intel, National Semiconductor, and others will also be discussed. |
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Intel outlines road to McKinley processorBy Craig Matsumoto October 8, 1998 |
Intel Corp. has outlined its battle plan
for the high-end workstation and server market, long a
difficult area for the company. Intel will launch Merced and its successor microprocessors at the high end, but Intel has been concurrently developing a processor family, code-named Foster, that will provide a hedge for mainstream servers and workstations, Intel officials revealed. |
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Xeon a zero in high end?By John Mackenna October 6, 1998 |
The performance-hungry high end of the
PC workstation market has some new choices on its menu,
featuring Intel Corp.'s 450MHz Pentium II Xeon processor. Intel rolled out the top-of-the-line processor today, and IBM, Dell Computer Corp., Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Gateway Inc. and Intergraph Corp. were among the OEMs announcing workstations based on the chip. |
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Gateway eyes AMD dealBy Michael Kanellos October 8, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices is inching toward
a deal with Gateway that, if consummated, would lead to
the first AMD-based Gateway desktop computer, according
to sources. Meanwhile, IBM is considering using an AMD K6-2 processor in a consumer notebook. While neither deal has been finalized yet, the existence of close negotiations between Gateway and AMD reflect the changing nature of the computer market. Gateway has long been one of the staunchest allies of Intel. |
See Today's Related Stories |
AMDs K7 processor to support RambusBy David Lammers October 8, 1998 |
Any thoughts that Advanced Micro Devices
Inc. might hoe a different next-generation-memory row
than Intel Corp. were quickly put aside, with its
Thursday announcement that it would use the Rambus
technology. The initial implementation will be to develop a chip set that will support Direct Rambus DRAMs with AMD's forthcoming K-7 processor, and AMD said it has test chips functioning with the Rambus Asic Cell (RAC) working at full-speed, 800-MHz operation. |
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National floats foundry plan in retreat from ScotlandBy Peter Clarke October 7, 1998 |
The U.K.'s strategy for attracting
investment for semiconductor manufacturing seems to be
unraveling under pressure from continuing weakness in the
global semiconductor market. National Semiconductor
Corp., one of the first investors into "Silicon
Glen" in the mid-1970s, is the latest company to
announce plans to cease chip manufacturing in the U.K. National said it will close its old 4-inch wafer fabrication facility here, but plans to set up an independent analog foundry that will take ownership of National's separate 6-inch fab. Both the 4-inch Fab 1 and the 6-inch Fab 3 run bipolar and CMOS processes and make predominantly analog ICs. |
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National picked in chip projectBy Stephen Shankland October 8, 1998 |
A federal government agency has selected
National Semiconductor as the lead company in a
three-year, $18.6 million project to improve microchip
yields while lowering production costs. The program's goal is to improve chip manufacturing so that lithography and etching equipment can compensate on the fly for problems that crop up as the chip wafer is processed. The technique for catching problems is called feed-forward control or FFC. |
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Today's Related Stories | ||
AMD poised to announce K6-2 400 deal with tier one PC companyBy John Lettice October 8, 1998 |
AMD is to launch the 400 MHz version of
its K6-2 processor on 10 November, with the backing of a
"top tier" vendor, according to sources close
to the company. It's not yet entirely clear who the
vendor is, but Compaq, IBM and HP are all candidates. All three companies have been successful in selling AMD K6 machines in the retail market in the past few months (Intel sales badly dented by AMD upstarts), and announcing record sales two days ago AMD said that, building on its success in the retail market, it was now poised to challenge Intel in the sub-$1,500 PC arena. |
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October 8, 1998 | ||
7th
Generation Processors from Intel:
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Intel detailed a roadmap for upcoming
microprocessors that will extend variations of its
current technology well into the next century and range up to 1000 MHz in speed. Most prominently, technology code-named Foster will represent a new processor "microarchitecture," according to Fred Pollack, director of measurement, architecture, and planning and Intel's microprocessor products group. |
See Today's Related Stories |
Intel maps out future of IA-32 with 1 Ghz CPU, Katmai and friendsBy John Lettice October 8, 1998 |
Intel has started to open up more about
its roadmap (detailed here weeks ago) for successors to
the Pentium II, and for the continuation of the IA-32
architecture beyond the launch of IA-64 Merced. With the
new designs, expected from 1999 through to 2001, Intel
appears to some extent to be making increased efforts to
segment the market, and in other ways to downplay the
importance of Merced. The successor to the Pentium II is codenamed Foster, and is targeted to hit clock speeds of a gigahertz by late 2000 or early 2001. It will be aimed at workstations and servers, so actually it's a PII Xeon replacement, and it's expected to run some 32-bit apps faster than Merced, so Intel is covering its butt in the event of Merced not being a screamer initially, and/or if IA-64 software is stalled in development. |
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AMD taps Direct RDRAM for performance boostBy Lisa DiCarlo October 7, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices Inc., on a roll
after announcing an unexpected quarterly profit on
Tuesday, today said it will license the Direct Rambus
DRAM memory interface for future chip sets. The company's decision to use Direct RDRAM will help put its systems on par with Intel Corp.'s in terms of performance. Direct RDRAM, developed by Rambus Inc., is the successor to synchronous dynamic RAM. It is the same memory type around which Intel is designing motherboards and that it plans to support in its 1999 chip sets. |
See Today's Related Stories |
Socket
Strategy Challenging for AMD
|
Although AMD has struggled (and for the
most part failed) to earn a profit over the past several
quarters, some good signs have emerged recently. We
estimate the company's share of the PC processor market
rose to 12% in 3Q98, and it is particularly strong in the
U.S. retail market, capturing 35% in June (according to
ZD Market Intelligence). While AMD may be profitable for
the rest of the year, maintaining growth and
profitability in 1999 will be challenging. The company's growing market share is due in part to its internal improvements. The K6-2 is a strong product that matches all of Intel's high-volume speed grades and even includes 3D acceleration features (see MPR 6/1/98, p. 18) that Intel's chips lack. Perhaps more important, the company appears to have overcome the manufacturing problems that kept it from shipping enough parts in 1997 and early 1998. After some initial problems, the new 0.25-micron process is ramping well and has completely replaced the older process at the company's flagship Fab 25. |
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Today's Related Stories | ||
On Intel's horizon: Foster, McKinleyBy Lisa DiCarlo October 8, 1998 |
Intel Corp. on Wednesday laid out its
four-year road map for 32- and 64-bit microprocessors for
high-end workstations and servers. At a briefing at its headquarters here, Intel said that true enterprise customers require long-range planning and as a result it has decided to "open its books." |
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Hot News: Intel reveals details of MPU roadmap through 2000By Mark Hachman October 8, 1998 |
Intel briefed reporters on its climb to
1-gigahertz microprocessors Wednesday night as part of a
plan to attract new workstation and server customers. Responding to recent product roadmaps published by other RISC microprocessor vendors, Intel Corp. disclosed more details about new 32-bit and 64-bit microprocessors as a prelude to the its 1-GHz milestone. Typically, Intel executives have chosen to brief OEMs privately, disclosing product revisions and new technologies in front of a selected panel of hardware and software vendors. Wednesday, however, company executives provided those same details to reporters in a bid to tap into a larger customer base. |
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Intel to offer new chip designBy James Niccolai October 7, 1998 |
Intel here on Wednesday sketched out its
microprocessor road map, including plans for a new 32-bit
microarchitecture that over time will replace the current
P6 design on which the Pentium II processor is based. The new microarchitecture will incorporate a number of technology improvements that will allow the company's processors to execute software applications faster. |
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AMD Licenses Direct Rambus For K7 lineBy Andrew MacLellan October 8, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. today said
it will adopt the Direct Rambus DRAM memory interface for
the K7 microprocessor line the company is readying for
next year's PC market. The K7 will support Direct RDRAM and existing PC-100 SDRAM with separate chipsets. Though it has stumbled in the processor arena, the Sunnyvale, Calif., rival to Intel Corp. has begun to make progress in the growing sub-$1,000 PC market with its cost-conscious K6 CPU design. |
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AMD selects Direct Rambus DRAM for K7 chipsBy Andy Santoni October 8, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices announced
Thursday that it has licensed Rambus memory technology
and will support Direct Rambus DRAM with core-logic chips
for its forthcoming K7 processors. At the introduction of its K6, AMD offered AMD-branded core-logic chips, designed by VIA Technologies, to demonstrate AMD's commitment to the Socket 7 interface the K6 uses. Enough merchant core-logic chip suppliers support the Super 7 interface the K6 now uses that AMD no longer feels a need to market its own chip set, a company representative explained. |
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October 7, 1998 | ||
AMD posts profit, record salesBy Michael Kanellos October 6, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices today reported
record revenues of $685.9 million for the third quarter
and net income of $1 million, or 1 cent per share--the
chipmaker's first profit in more than a year--as a result
of a 30 percent surge in sales. For the current quarter, AMD will try to build on this success by shipping a 400-MHz version of the K6-2 chip in volume, increasing the company's presence in the notebook market and keeping rival Intel at bay with lower-priced processors, chief executive Jerry Sanders said. |
See Today's Related Stories |
AMD beating Intel at low-end, takes aim at sub-$1,500By John Lettice October 7, 1998 |
AMD is claiming a 54 per cent share of
the sub-$1,000 PC market for its K6-2 CPU, and is now
taking aim at the sub-$1,500 mainstream desktop market
with the 350 MHz version of the chip. This sector of the
company's business now at last seems to be booming - on
the strength of it AMD yesterday announced that it had
gone back into profit in its third quarter. Its sales of $686 million were up 30 per cent on the previous quarter (15 per cent on last year), and although profit was only $1 million, analysts had been expecting another loss. The company says sales and bookings are running at record levels, and that the PC manufacturers' inventory problems of earlier this year have finally been cleared from the channel, meaning there's plenty of headroom for more sales increases. |
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Centaur Stops MPU That Integrates Core LogicBy Mark Hachman October 7, 1998 |
Centaur Technology, a subsidiary of
Integrated Device Technology (IDT), will announce next
week that it has canceled plans to develop a
microprocessor that only integrates core logic. Instead,
Centaur is "redirecting" development to add
graphics technology derived from an outside source. IDT officials separately confirmed the company has shelved development of its own stand-alone graphics chip, which industry sources said was called VisionArray. Instead, Centaur executives said they will probably license or work with one of the 30-odd existing PC graphics-chip companies. |
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Intel 450MHz Xeon ships, but four- and 8-way slipBy John Lettice October 7, 1998 |
The first systems based on Intel's
450MHz Xeon CPU will ship this month, following today's
announcement of the processor, but four-way
implementations won't be out till next year - very early
next year, said a spokesman, while eight-way Xeon is
still a way off. The 450 MHz Xeon is designed for use in dual processor workstations and servers, and for 1,000 unit quantities will cost $824, a substantial price cut from the equivalent 400 MHz part's launch price of $1,124. Intel however now says that four-way 450MHz Xeon servers are likely to ship early next year. |
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NatSemi attacks WSJ cancer claimsBy Drew Cullen October 7, 1998 |
National Semiconductor has hit back the
Wall Street Journal, following a "one-sided"
article in Monday's edition, in which the company was
accused of exposing workers at its Greenock, Scotland
plant to hazardous working conditions, In the WSJ article, former NatSemi workers complained of chemical leaks at the plant, and exposure to carcinogenic materials, which had led to a cluster of miscarriages and uterine cances. |
See Related Stories |
Today's Related Stories | ||
AMD beats Street on strong K-6 salesBy Tom Quinlan October 7, 1998 |
Paint it black for Advanced Micro
Devices Inc.: The Sunnyvale chip company surprised Wall
Street Tuesday by posting its first quarterly profit in
more than a year. Although AMD's third-quarter earnings were scant -- $1 million, or one cent per share, on record sales of $685.9 million -- its performance far exceeded the analysts' consensus of a 14-cent-per-share loss. |
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Another shocker: AMD turns a profit in third quarterBy Larry Barrett October 7, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD)
on Tuesday became the second major chipmaker in as many
days to shatter analysts estimates in its third
quarter. AMD posted a profit of $1 million, or 1 cent a
share, on sales of $685 million. First Call consensus expected AMD to lose 11 cents a share in the quarter. On Tuesday, Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) easily hurdled analysts estimates in its third quarter. AMD shares closed up 1 ½ to 19 7/8 ahead of the earnings report. |
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AMD Reports Surprise ProfitBy Gabrielle Jonas October 6, 1998 |
Crediting substantial growth in sales of
its K6-2 processors, Advanced Micro Devices returned to
profitability in its third quarter and trounced Wall
Street estimates, the company said Tuesday. For the three months ended Sept. 27, AMD (company profile) reported net income of $1 million, or one penny a share, on revenue of $686 million. Analysts were expecting the company to post a loss of 11 cents per share, according to First Call, revised up from a 21 cents per share loss estimated earlier in the quarter. |
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Profitable AMD posts record sales, defies analysts' expectationsBy Will Wade October 6, 1998 |
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. blew out
analysts' expectations with record sales in its third
quarter, and reported net income here today of $1
million. Although its communications and memory devices showed flat sales, the company saw significant growth in microprocessor sales, which led to total sales of $685.9 million for the period. AMD's microprocessor business was the company's strongest unit, and all of the quarterly gains came from the K6 product line, which saw sales increase by 70%. An important shift this quarter was a higher percentage of MPU shipments at the higher end of the product family, said W. J. (Jerry) Sanders III, chairman and CEO. |
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AMD returns to profitabilityBy Richard Richtmyer October 7, 1998 |
Citing growing demand for its low-end
microprocessors, Advanced Micro Systems Inc. on Tuesday
reported third-quarter earnings that came in ahead of
analysts' expectations, finishing on the plus side after
four quarters of losses. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based chip maker reported total sales of $685.9 million for the third quarter, an increase of 30% from the second quarter of 1998, and 15% from the year-ago period.Those sales resulted in net income of $1 million, or one cent per share, the company said. Most analysts were expecting the company to post a slight loss or break even, at best. |
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AMD back in the blackBy Torsten Busse October 6, 1998 |
Aided by strong sales of its AMD-K6-2
processors, Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday surprised
Wall Street by reporting a return to profitability,
posting a third-quarter net income of slightly more than
$1 million, or 1 cent per share. In the third quarter of 1997 AMD had reported a net loss of $31.6 million on sales of $597 million, or a net loss per share of 22 cents. Analysts polled by First Call expected the chip maker to report a loss of 11 cents per share for the third quarter ended Sept. 27. |
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October 6, 1998 | ||
Sony deal boosts AMDBy Michael Kanellos October 5, 1998 |
Sony has adopted the K6-2 processor from
Advanced Micro Devices for a new line of consumer PCs for
the Japanese market, a design win on the eve of the
company's quarterly report that could presage AMD-based
Sony machines in the U.S. The Sony deal will likely be one of the topics in what is expected to be a relatively upbeat conference call tomorrow. AMD is still expected to post a loss, but a much smaller one than AMD reported in previous quarters and even predictions from a few weeks ago. The consensus estimate is now a loss of 12 cents a share, up from predictions of a loss of 14 cents a week ago. Some even believe the loss could be narrower. |
See Today's Related Stories |
AMD's Shipping Goals May Outstrip DemandBy Gabrielle Jonas October 5, 1998 |
As Advanced Micro Devices prepares to
announce its third quarter earnings on Tuesday, analysts
disagreed about whether the chip company's ambitious
shipping goals will do more harm than good. In a research report published Monday, Piper Jaffray analyst Ashok Kumar said recent "channel-checking" shows AMD is trying to increase its microprocessor unit shipments by 1 million every quarter. Those shipments mostly involve 350-MHz K6-2 processors with 3DNow technology. |
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National Will Lay Off 600 In Fab ClosureBy Mark Hachman October 5, 1998 |
Saying the company has "the
equivalent of one factory too many to meet the business
level of the next four to five years," Brian Halla,
president and CEO of National Semiconductor announced
Monday it will lay off as many as 600 employees in its
Greenock, Scotland fab and consolidate all manufacturing
in Scotland over the next 12 months into Fab 3, a 6-inch
fab also based in Greenock. Beginning in March 1999, National's work force at Fab 1, a 4-inch wafer facility in Greenock dedicated to manufacturing analog integrated circuits, is expected to decrease from 1,000 to 400 employees, the company said. Fab 1 will then be sold. |
See Today's Related Stories |
Workers make cancer claims in NatSemi job cuts factoryBy Drew Cullen October 5, 1998 |
National Semiconductor is axe 700 jobs
at its Greenock manufacturing plant, reducing the 1,500
workforce by almost half. Sources close to the company blamed the job cuts on this years semiconductor price drops: Some of Natsemi products are going out at less than a penny, said Sukh Rayat, general manager at Flashpoint UK , a distributor of NatSemi Cyrix processors. Prices have fallen further and have lasted longer than anyone could have expected. |
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Deal gives Reptron entree into x86 CPU marketBy Barbara Jorgensen October 5, 1998 |
Seeking an entree into the x86 CPU
market, Reptron Electronics Inc. has added the Rise
Technology Co. products to its line card. Reptron's national distribution agreement with the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company is effective immediately. Rise Technology focuses on selected areas of the Windows market, and provides x86 CPU solutions that are targeted at being very competitive in those segments. Rise designs, markets, sells and distributes high-performance CPU and CPU-centric products that maintain adherence to accepted industry standards. |
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Intel antitrust suit delayedOctober 5, 1998 |
The Federal Trade Commission's
anti-trust suit against Intel has been postponed again,
this time by a further month. The action will now commence on 18 February 1999. The move was made by the presiding judge, James Timoney, the better to fit his undoubtedly busy schedule. The judge had already set the trial for 5 January. |
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Intel Insider: Sneak peek at Intel's confidential MPU pricingOctober 5, 1998 |
Preview text not available. Please click on link to view text. | |
Today's Related Stories | ||
AMD scores Sony consumer PC design winOctober 6, 1998 |
Sony is to use AMD's K6-2 processor in
its forthcoming line of consumer PCs. The news comes one
day before AMD is due to release its latest quarterly
results. The Japanese consumer electronics giant will be using the 350MHz K6-2 in its Vaio Compo line due to go on sale at the end of the month. |
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National Semi to cut Scotland jobsBy Jim Davis October 5, 1998 |
In an effort to curb excess production
costs, National Semiconductor said it would consolidate
its wafer manufacturing operations in Greenock, Scotland,
eventually resulting in cuts in the workforce there. One manufacturing line will be closed and consolidated into the remaining line, with the company expecting thatwill decline from 1,000 to employment at the facility 400 starting in March of 1999. Some employees will be transferred to other manufacturing facilities, but thecompany did not state how many might be affected. |
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National closing fab line in Scotland; site may become foundryBy Will Wade October 5, 1998 |
National Semiconductor Corp. here today
announced it would shut down a 4-inch wafer processing
line in Greenock, Scotland, while it looks for investors
to purchase the analog chip manufacturing complex and
operate it as a foundry. In the meantime, the Greenock facility will consolidate its silicon processing on a 6-inch wafer line and lay off 600 workers. National plans to take a $25 million charge in the current quarter for the layoffs and fab line shutdown. |
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October 5, 1998 | ||
AMD catching up to Intel in retailBy Michael Kanellos October 2, 1998 |
Though Intel supplies close to half of
the processors for computers in the retail market, its
grip seems to be slipping. Computers containing Intel processors accounted for 54.3 percent of retail sales in August, according to Matt Sargent, computing analyst with Computer Intelligence. This is a drastic drop from the same month a year ago when Intel-based PCs accounted for 84.3 percent of retail sales. Much of the lost market share was picked up by Advanced Micro Devices and the processor companies that supply chips for Apple's iMac. |
See Today's Related Stories |
NEC Readies VCM Core; Intel Not Yet On BoardBy Andrew MacLellan October 5, 1998 |
Having assembled third-party chip-set
support for its virtual-channel memory (VCM)
architecture, NEC Electronics is poised to thrust the new
133-MHz synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) core into the notebook
and low-cost desktop-PC markets. However, without the endorsement of chip-set industry leader Intel, which has thus far withheld its blessing, many observers said they predict NEC's VCM core will have a tough go of it in the broader market. |
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Intel antitrust suit delayedBy Michael Kanellos October 2, 1998 |
The Federal Trade Commission's antitrust
action against Intel has been postponed until the middle
of February to accommodate the schedule of the presiding
judge. The administrative action will now begin on February 18, according to Chuck Mulloy, an Intel spokesman. Earlier, Judge James Timoney set the trial for a January 5 starting date. In the action, the FTC is alleging that Intel uses unfair, monopolistic business practices to the detriment of computer vendors, processor manufacturers, and graphics chipmakers. The case primarily revolves around three incidents where Intel terminated or threatened to terminate nondisclosure agreements with computer vendors that would not license intellectual property to Intel. |
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Molex boosts connector contacts, speed for Xeon processorBy Terry Costlow October 1, 1998 |
The Slot 2 connectors that Molex Inc.
will roll out next week for Intel Corp.'s Pentium II Xeon
processor will employ novel techniques to satisfy
requirements set by Intel and Molex when they began
working together in 1994. The connectors borrow circuit
board techniques to handle higher speeds while increasing
contact density. The HiSpec card edge connectors are designed for servers and other high-end applications that require Xeon, which was introduced in June. The connector itself is only slightly larger than the Slot 1 connector found on many desktop systems, but it has 110 extra contacts and can handle signals that are more than twice as fast. Some of the techniques implemented on the Slot 2 connector are already being employed in other Molex connectors. |
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Despite shortages, new Xeon dueBy Michael Kanellos October 5, 1998 |
Major computer vendors will roll out a
series of new workstations using Intels
top-of-the-line Xeon chip next Tuesday. The only thing in short supply may be the chip itself, an issue which has dogged the high-end processor since its late June debut. Computer executives have said that getting adequate supplies of Intel's 450-MHz Xeon remains difficult, although Intel has told workstation manufacturers that greater numbers of Xeon processors will be available toward the end of the month. |
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Today's Related Stories | ||
Intel sales badly dented by AMD upstartsBy John Lettice October 5, 1998 |
Intel efforts to beat-off low cost
rivals seem to be failing, according to research outfit
Computer Intelligence, which says the company's share of
US retail sales in August was 54.3 per cent, down from
84.3 per cent a year ago. High-powered clone chips from AMD scored well over the month, and Intel's attempts to 'ring fence' the low-end via Celeron have flopped conspicuously - Celeron machines did badly, PII ones rather better. |