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July 2, 1999
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By John G. Spooner
July 1, 1999
PC Week Online
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It's not good timing.
Intel Corp. confirmed today it has delivered to OEMs a fix for another glitch with its 810 chip set for
Celeron-based PCs.
The glitch -- or erratum, as Intel calls it -- can cause the chip set's real-time clock to display incorrect date and
time, officials said.
The real-time clock, which is a part of the chip set, updates the time once per second, but during the
update alerts the system that it is doing so. Because of the erratum, a signal that is supposed to be sent from
the clock alerting the rest of the system it is busy may not get sent. As a result, incorrect data can be
displayed.
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July 2, 1999
IT Director
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Taiwan based Via Technologies has decided to tackle Intel head on by purchasing the Cyrix x86 product line. Abandoned by National Semiconductor as a loss maker, the Cyrix operation looked destined for extinction. It is encouraging to see increased competition in the processor market again. Via just beat the 30th June deadline for resolving Cyrix's future.
Via is presently a manufacturer of chip sets, and has to cope with a recently launched lawsuit from Intel over alleged misrepresentation. One customer is AMD, now a rival in the processor market, although Cyrix VP Stan Swearingen
believes that the two processor makers ought to be complementary. Both Cyrix and AMD fight mainly at the low end of the processor market.
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The Register Files
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By Mike Magee
July 1, 1999
The Register
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A German distributor has alerted us to an unexpected Intel price cut on its 500MHz Pentium III part in week 34 of the year of the lord 1999.
The cut is a reaction to several major wins AMD has made both with large OEMs and local assemblers in Germany.
Compaq, Fujitsu and IPC (Archtec) will introduce K7 Athlon systems in Germany in weeks 33 to 34 of the year of the lord 1999.
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By Mike Magee
July 1, 1999
The Register
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The Great Satan of Tape Recorders (AMD) announced yesterday that it struck a deal with a German bank consortium which meant it did not need to raise $200 million in stock.
AMD said last week that its second quarter would mean a $200 million loss for the company. Part of the problem in Q2 is it has stock of chips it cannot sell.
The company borrowed money to build and open its Dresden fabrication plant, number 30. That money is due to be repaid.
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July 1, 1999
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By Michael Kanellos
June 30, 1999
C/Net
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Although others have stumbled in their attempts to take on Intel, Via Technologies comes to the table
with an unusual combination of resources that could liven up the market for processors for low-budget PCs.
As reported earlier, Taiwanese chipset manufacturer Via Technologies has agreed to purchase the Cyrix microprocessor division
of National Semiconductor, a deal that paves the way for Via to produce chips for PCs, including the first true clones of Intel's
low-end Celeron processor.
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By Mark Hachman
June 30, 1999
Electronic Buyers' News
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Taiwan-based chipset maker Via Technologies Inc. signed a
letter of intent to purchase National Semiconductor Corp.'s Cyrix standalone microprocessor business unit today for an
undisclosed amount.
While Via's purchase should ensure a stable future for Cyrix's microprocessor portfolio, the deal leaves several
questions unanswered concerning Via's status as a chipset supplier. Further details on the timing and structure of the
transaction will be announced during July, executives said.
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June 30, 1999
Semiconductor Business News
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Advanced Micro Devices Inc. here today said it will no longer need to
undertake a $200 million equity offering after it reached an agreement with banks providing
financing for its 8-inch wafer fab in Dresden, Germany.
The agreement with the consortium of banks relieves AMD of a requirement to make a stock
offering by the end of June in order to fund its $70 million bank loan to the AMD Saxony
Manufacturing GmbH subsidiary.
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The Register Files
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By Mike Magee
June 30, 1999
The Register
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New chip contender Via has struck back at Intel barely a day after it acquired x.86 company Cyrix from
NatSemi.
In a brief statement, Via acknowledged it had received the lawsuit Intel filed on the 23 June and said it had taken "necessary legal action" to protect its rights.
It said it will continue to provide P6 chipsets, including the PC-133 solution that it wanted to show at last month's Computex show in Taiwan.
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By Mike Magee
June 30, 1999
The Register
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We first met Jerry Rogers, an ex-TI employee, just before he had the go-ahead from his investors to launch a new type of chip company, Cyrix.
Cyrix, he explained over a beer or two in bar at an ETRE conference, had a completely new way of designing microprocessors that was absolutely
fabless.
His company, he said, would be able to design leaner and faster microprocessors and regardless of Intel's grip on the market, was not in the slightest bit worried about patents.
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By Mike Magee
June 30, 1999
The Register
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Taiwanese title Eurotrade is reporting that both Gigabyte and Asus may delay PC-133 motherboards because of litigation between Intel and chipset manufacturer
Via.
The magazine quotes a senior executive of Via as saying that the company will continue shipping its chipsets, confident its existing patent will cover alleged
infringement of an Intel Slot One patent.
The same source says that Via is attempting to raise $NT 10 billion to acquire Cyrix, possibly in cooperation with Taiwanese foundry United Microelectronics
Corp (UMC).
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By Mike Magee
June 30, 1999
The Register
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A leading hardware site has asked Intel nicely not to implement a plan to prevent the production of dual Celeron systems.
CPU Review has posted a petition to its site which can be viewed here.
At Computex in Taiwan at the beginning of the month, a motherboard manufacturer showed a design which allowed twin Celerons to run together.
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Today's
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By Elizabeth Heichler
June 30, 1999
Infoworld Electric
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Via Technologies is buying National Semiconductor's Cyrix microprocessor business for an
undisclosed sum, the companies announced Wednesday.
The companies have signed a letter of intent under which Taipei, Taiwan-based Via will purchase
the x86 microprocessor business, which competes with Intel in the PC arena. Via will continue to
develop and market the product line, according to the brief statement it issued Wednesday. Details
about the structure and timing of the transaction will be released in July, the statement said.
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By By Marcia Savage
June 30, 1999
Computer Reseller News
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Chipset maker Via Technologies Inc. signed a letter of intent to buy National Semiconductor
Corp.'s Cyrix stand-alone PC microprocessor business, the companies announced
Wednesday.
Taiwan-based Via intends to continue to develop and market the Cyrix line of
processors, the company said in a statement. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Additional details about the timing and structure of the deal will be announced next
month, according to Via.
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By John G. Spooner
June 30, 1999
PC Week Online
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Via Technologies Inc. has slipped into the ring with Intel
Corp. in a major way.
The Taiwan-based company, which announced today it has signed a letter of intent to purchase National
Semiconductor Inc.'s Cyrix division's X86 business, plans to take on Intel in a fight that left National Semi
with a bloody nose.
The news comes in the wake of a lawsuit, filed last week by Intel in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif.,
alleging that Via violated a November, 1998 chip set license agreement by misrepresenting products as
licensed from Intel.
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By Mark Carroll
June 30, 1999
EE Times
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Via Technologies Inc. and National Semiconductor Corp. have signed a letter of intent for
Via, a Taiwan chip set vendor, to purchase Cyrix Corp., National's X86 PC processor business, for an
undisclosed amount. Details on the timing and structure of the transaction, announced Tuesday (June 29), will be
announced over the next month.
The initial announcement by the companies came just before National, who had said he would shut Cyrix down if
a buyer was not found for it by June 29. What Via will do with Cyrix is not yet clear. But motherboard
manufacturers and analysts in Taiwan said it will give Via a stronger position in its developing battle with Intel
Corp., which sued Via earlier this month for contract violations regarding Via's P6 bus license with Intel. The suit
has made some motherboard makers in Taiwan hesitant to use Via's chip sets.
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June 30, 1999
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By Deborah Gage
June 29, 1999
Sm@rt Reseller
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Intel Corp. continues to try to entice developers to adopt its IA-64 platform, whose first member -- Merced
-- is due mid-2000.
At an invitation-only event held recently for software developers, Intel showed a prototype of a four-way
Merced server with 64GB of memory. Sources say Intel showed a diagram of the machine at its Fall Intel
Developers Forum and also has run software simulations of four-way Merced servers. Intel would not
comment, other than to say that Merced's design is ongoing.
Developers said the server looks suitable for hosting Web and application servers and for caching static
content like product orders, which would make it useful for e-commerce.
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By Therese Poletti
June 29, 1999
SiliconValley.com
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National Semiconductor Corp. has reached an agreement to sell its money-losing Cyrix PC processor business to Via Technologies
Inc., a Taiwanese maker of chip sets, and a deal could be announced as early as
Wednesday, an industry source said.
``They have reached an agreement in principle,'' said one industry source who asked not to be identified. ``I expect they will
announce it soon, probably as early as tomorrow.''
The value of the deal was not immediately available.
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By Anne Knowles
Jun 29 1999
PC Week Online
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Intel Corp. has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Via Technologies Inc., one of several Taiwanese chip set
manufacturers that licenses technology from the chip giant.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., alleges that Via violated a November, 1998 chip set license
agreement by misrepresenting products as licensed from Intel.
According to the suit, "Beginning in or about February or March 1999, Via began making, using and offering for sale certain
chip sets that use Intel patented technology but that are not licensed by Intel under the Agreement."
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The Register Files
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By Mike Magee
June 29, 1999
The Register
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Working samples of Intel's Merced processor are now unlikely to arrive until Q3 or Q4
of this year, several sources have now confirmed.
An engineer at Intel, who declined to be named, says that problems with architectural
teams mean that working processors are still difficult to improve.
And separate sources at both Compaq and IBM have also confirmed that their
companies have still not seen working examples of silicon.
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By John Lettice
June 29, 1999
The Register
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Via Technologies' licensing spat with Intel gets more complicated by the day -
according to US mag EBN, the company is in negotiation to buy NatSemi's Cyrix unit.
EBN reports that NatSemi has confirmed it's in talks with Via, and suggests that the
deal could be clinched as early as tomorrow (Wednesday). If it does roll, it will
certainly put the patents among the pigeons.
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Today's
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By Sandy Chen and Mark Hachman
June 29, 1999
Electronic Buyers' News
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Chip-set maker Via Technologies Inc. here is in talks to acquire National
Semiconductor Corp.'s Cyrix microprocessor unit, National officials confirmed yesterday.
The talks have not been completed, and a spokesman for Santa Clara, Calif.-based National
said it is considering Via as one of an unnamed number of prospects at this point. But officials at
Via's headquarters in Taipei, said they anticipate an announcement shortly; observers expect it by
Wednesday.
"Via is one of the Cyrix prospects at this point," said a spokesman for National. "We're still in
discussions with them and some others."
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By Michael Kanellos
June 29, 1999
C/Net
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National Semiconductor is trying to put together a sale of its Cyrix microprocessor division to Taiwan's Via Technologies in a deal that could be announced later today or tomorrow.
National is in discussions to sell Cyrix to Via, sources at the company told CNET
News.com.
The deal, if it goes through, will go a long way toward fulfilling the strategic goals of both companies, and, no doubt, add to the melodrama that is the microprocessor marketplace. By buying the Cyrix division, and signing a manufacturing deal with National, Via, which makes its money from of chipsets, could potentially release a processor in the form of an Intel Celeron clone, a competitive but potentially more lucrative market than chipsets.
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June 29, 1999
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By Sandy Chen and Mark Hachman
June 28, 1999
Electronic Buyers' News
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Chipset maker Via Technologies Inc. is in talks to acquire
National Semiconductor Corp.'s Cyrix microprocessor unit, National officials confirmed today.
The talks have not been completed, and a spokesman for Santa Clara, Calif.-based National said it is considering
Via as but one of an unnamed number of prospects at this point. But officials at Via's headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan,
said they anticipate an announcement shortly; observers expect it by Wednesday.
"Via's one of the Cyrix prospects at this point," said a spokesman for National. "We're still in discussions with
them and some others."
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By Michael Kanellos and Dan Goodin
June 25, 1999
C/Net
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In a move that seems likely to resurrect accusations that Intel is trying to stifle competition, the chip giant has revoked
a technology license and filed a federal lawsuit against Via Technologies, a leading chipset vendor.
And, once again, Rambus may come up somewhere as an issue.
On Wednesday, Intel filed a breach-of-contract and patent-infringement suit against Via Technologies alleging that it is marketing
Intel technology that is excluded from a license to the two companies signed last November.
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By Michael Kanellos
June 25, 1999
C/Net
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Acer Laboratories (ALI) became the latest semiconductor maker to get a license from Intel to make chipsets for the
Pentium architecture, a move that will likely lead to a wider variety of cheaper components.
ALI, the silicon subsidiary of the Acer conglomerate, now will be able to manufacture chipsets that will work in conjunction with
the Pentium III, Pentium II, and Celeron processors, according to Chuck
Mulloy, an Intel spokesman. Chipsets, which in bulk cost
around $25 to $40, essentially act as a conduit between the processor, the main memory and the rest of the components of a
computer.
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By Michael Lattig
June 28, 1999
Infoworld Electric
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IN AN EFFORT to differentiate its servers in what is becoming a highly
"commoditized" market,
IBM will step away from Intel to develop its own core logic for the next big shift in chip
technology -- the move to IA-64.
One of many vendors waiting for Intel to deliver the Profusion chip set necessary for them to ship
8-way Xeon-based servers, IBM already is developing a chip set that company officials expect to
have ready in time for Intel's McKinley chip.
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By Nancy Weil
June 28, 1999
PC World
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Advanced Micro Devices is shipping a new embedded x86 processor with 3DNow and MMX technologies for
use in devices such as set-top boxes and speech-recognition systems.
The AMD K6-2E is intended for use with embedded applications that need high performance and low power
use, according to AMD representatives.
Uses for the microprocessor include central office switches, high-speed network routers, industrial control
systems, point-of-sale terminals, printer controllers, and Windows-compatible single-board computers, the
company says.
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By Jack Robertson
June 28, 1999
Semiconductor Business News
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Several memory-module makers said last week that they were
shipping PC133 SDRAM devices to Intel Corp. for testing, but it was unclear what Intel's
motives are for evaluating a memory it has so steadfastly shunned.
Module companies exhibiting at PC Expo in New York said they fervently believe Intel is
planning to change gears and support PC133 memory once its 810e chip set, with a 133-MHz
frontside bus (FSB), is unveiled this fall. Other exhibitors, including PC OEMs with close ties to
Intel, said the company is simply testing PC133 modules against Direct Rambus DRAM, the
high-speed memory strongly supported by Intel.
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By Andrew MacLellan and Jack Robertson
June 28, 1999
Semiconductor Business News
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With the launch date for Direct Rambus DRAM fast approaching, several memory suppliers said they will not devote more than token
manufacturing resources to the high-speed technology until sometime next year.
The delay in the release of Intel Corp.'s Camino core-logic chip set until September has left an air
of uncertainty around the introduction of Direct RDRAM (see Feb. 10 story). And while most
chip makers expect the architecture to dominate the memory market in the future, the pace of
that transition is uncertain.
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The Register Files
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By Mike Magee
June 28, 1999
The Register
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Some intriguing reports are trickling our way about the progress of the Intel Merced
project and so we thought it worth our while to revisit the subject, once more.
It's hard for us to firm up the story that nine months ago, Intel CEO Craig Barrett
carpeted Dr Albert Yu and got very irritated at the progress of the processor. We
weren't there, and neither was our fly on the wall, but those rumours are doing the
round.
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By John Lettice
June 27, 1999
The Register
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Intel has gone legal again in its attempts to block shipments of Via Technologies'
PC133 chipsets. Chipzilla, which filed against Via in San Jose in March owing to a
clerical error, filed against it there again last week. Presumably experience of the
March dummy run will help accelerate the legal process.
Intel is generally held to be trying to slow the progress of PC133 while it either
implements its own version or (unlikely one this) hauls its own favoured Direct Rambus
out of the mire. Speaking in London last week Craig Barrett made it pretty clear that
PC133, which is still officially ruled out, isn't really ruled out after all, but he's been
making that pretty clear to anybody who'll listen for some time now. Here's one we
prepared earlier.
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By Mike Magee
June 28, 1999
The Register
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The news that Intel has decided to take action against Via over its PC-133 chipset
strategy will have serious repercussions for the entire PC industry. (Story: Intel busts
Via over PC-133, this time it's personal)
The twister has touched ground and will devastate vast tracts of engineering effort
amongst third party players.
At Computex, earlier this month, the vast majority of Taiwanese motherboard
manufacturers announced their support for the PC-133 standard. And the island's
largest memory manufacturer, Mosel-Vitelic, also announced it would support
PC-133, at the same time making it clear there were problems with Direct
Rambus.
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By Drew Cullen
June 25, 1999
The Register
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So how fast is Camino? We don't know, but we know a man that does.
Step forward Thomas Pabst. In his latest uber-review, Dr. Tom compares and
contrasts a BX board overclocked to 133 MHz FSB with an equivalent specced
Camino.
And guess what? BX smokes Camino "significantly".
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By Mike Magee
June 25, 1999
The Register
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AMD cannot produce enough K7s or K6-IIIs to turn its position round, even given the
most optimistic take on it.
But IBM, that fab company, could.
So why doesn't Big Blue just buy AMD and put it out of its misery?
And is the Alereon a socketed low-cost K7? They've got one, we hear...
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By Peter Sherriff
June 28, 1999
The Register
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The Register has suggested to Intel Insiders on several occasions that Chipzilla is but
a few short steps away from building and selling its own PCs. On each occasion the
reaction has been subtly different. A year back they laughed; six months ago they said
it would never happen; today they stare at their shoes and mumble something
non-committal.
While a move into Intel-badged PCs would piss off the big OEMs big time, let’s look
at where Chipzilla is today.
It makes 80 per cent plus of the CPUs on the planet. It makes motherboards for them.
It makes graphics chipsets (well, it tries) and graphics cards, it makes networking
gizmos, cameras and complete videoconferencing systems which already carry the
Intel logo on the box.
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By Mike Magee
June 28, 1999
The Register
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Asian wires are reporting that giant Taiwanese company Acer will sell large amounts
of shares to raise an estimated NT$3 billion.
It will sell 27 million shares in Acer Peripherals, 36 million shares in mobile phone firm
Pacific Cellular, and three millions shares in Aopen, which makes PC cases and the
like.
Earlier in June, Acer sold over a large chunk of its semiconductor manufacturing
interests to TSMC, as reported here.
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By Mike Magee
June 28, 1999
The Register
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Our friends at JC's are reporting that Intel has plans to squash the development of dual
Celeron systems by disabling the processor.
At Computex, earlier this month, one or two Taiwanese mobo manufacturers, in
particular Abit, were demonstrating systems that took advantage of SMP processing
on the ultra-cheap Celeron platform.
But now JC is claining that Intel is already disabling the AN15 pin that permits such
SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) systems to be built.
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By Mike Magee
June 28, 1999
The Register
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The massive loss that AMD predicted for its Q2 financials last week overshadowed
another setback for the chip company in its travails.
Figures from market research company Mercury Research, which reported that AMD
managed to secure 16.1 per cent market share in the last quarter of 1998, show that
Intel has clawed its way back in the entry level market.
The latest set of figures from Mercury now show that AMD's share fell to 13.6 in the
first quarter of this year, while Intel's share rose from 75.9 per cent to 80.3 per cent.
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By Mike Magee
June 27, 1999
The Register
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Chip company AMD has now posted a set of benchmarks comparing its Athlon K7
processor against Intel's offerings.
AMD figures claim that a 550MHz K7-Athlon with 512K cache registers 146 per cent
against the 100 per cent of a PIII-550 using the SPECfp_base95 FP benchmark.
It registers 140 per cent against the 100 per cent of the same processor in 3D
performance, claims AMD.
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Today's
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June 28, 1999
Electronic Buyers' News
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Intel Corp. has filed suit against chip-set maker Via Technologies
Inc., charging it with breach of contract, false advertising, patent infringement, and unfair
competition.
In the suit, Intel charged Via with manufacturing certain chipsets that violate the terms of the P6
bus license Intel granted the company last November in return for royalty payments. The suit,
filed last Wednesday in federal court in San Jose, asks for damages, injunctive relief, and
compensation for business Intel allegedly lost as a result of Via's actions.
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By Marcia Savage
June 25, 1999
Computer Reseller News
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Intel Corp. has filed a federal lawsuit alleging patent infringement, breach of contract and
unfair competition against chipset maker Via Technologies Inc.
The suit, filed Wednesday, comes after Intel terminated its license agreement with
Taiwan-based Via on June 18.
An Intel spokesman said the company filed suit after months of negotiations with Via
about compliance with the licensing agreement, which granted Via use of Intel's
patented technology to make and sell certain chipsets.
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