| April 10, 1998 |
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By Staff Writer
April 10, 1998
Semiconductor Business News
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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.
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By Michael Kanellos
April 9, 1998
C/Net
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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.
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| April 9, 1998 |
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By Kelly Spang
April 7, 1998
Computer Reseller News
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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.
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(04/08/98; 10:46 a.m. EST)
By Doug Olenick
April 8, 1998
Computer Retail Week
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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).
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| April 8, 1998 |
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By Jeff Pelline
April 7, 1998
C/Net
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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.
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See
Today's Related Stories |
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By Mark Hachman
April 8, 1998
Electronic Buyers' News
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"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.
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By Michael Slater
APril 8, 1998
EE Times
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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.
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By Margaret Ryan
April 7, 1998
EE Times
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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.
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By Staff Writer
April 7, 1998
Semiconductory Business News
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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.
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By Michael Kanellos
April 7, 1998
C/Net
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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.
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By Jim Davis
April 7, 1998
C/Net
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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.
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| Today's Related Stories |
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By Charles Cooper
April 7, 1998
ZD Net News
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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.
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By Gabrielle Jonas
April 7, 1998
TechInvestor
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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.
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By Staff Writer
April 8, 1998
Semiconductor Business News
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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.
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By Mark Hachman
April 7, 1998
Electronic Buyer's News
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"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.
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| April 7, 1998 |
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By Ismini Scouras
April 6, 1998
Electronic Buyers' News
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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.
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See
Today's Related Stories |
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By Michael Kanellos
April 6, 1998
C/Net
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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.
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(4:45 p.m. EST, 4/6/98)
By Andrew MacLellan
April 6, 1998
Electronic Buyer's News
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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.
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See Today's Related Stories |
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By Ron Wilson
April 6, 1998
EE Times
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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. |
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By C/Net Staff
April 6, 1998
C/Net
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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.
| Stories
Within this story |
|
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| IBM investing big in AMD |
Cyrix chip aimed at PCs under
$500 |
Intel rivals gain on Wall Street |
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By Michael Kanellos
April 6, 1998
C/Net
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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.
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By Michael Kanellos and Jim Davis
April 5, 1998
C/Net
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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.
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By Reuters
April 6, 1998
C/Net
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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.
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By Andy Patrizio
April 6, 1998
TechWeb
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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.
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By Suzanne Galante
April 6, 1998
C/Net
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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.
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| Today's Related Stories |
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By Ismini Scouras
April 6, 1998
Electronic Buyer's News
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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.
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By Staff Writer
April 6, 1998
Electronic Buyers' News
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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.
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By Staff Writer
April 6, 1998
Electronic Buyer's News
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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.
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By Anthony Cataldo
April 6, 1998
EE Times
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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. |
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By Staff Writer
April 6, 1998
Semiconductor Business News
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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. |
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| April 6, 1998 |
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By Anthony Cataldo
April 6, 1998
EE Times
|
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
patent rights.
|
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
Cyrix claims rights to Pentium II, Slot 1
secrets
Digital, Cyrix sue Intel over patents
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By Mark Carroll with additional reporting by Anthony
Cataldo
April 6, 1998
EE Times
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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."
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By Reuters
April 6, 1998
ZD Net News
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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.
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By Reuters
April 5, 1998
CNN Interactive
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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.
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By Kimberly Caisse & Jeff Bliss
April 3, 1998
Computer Reseller News
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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.
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By Andrew MacLellan
April 3, 1998
Electronic Buyer's News
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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.
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By Eric C. Fleming
April 3, 1998
ZD Inter@ctive Investor
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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.
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By Charlotte Dunlap
April 3, 1998
Computer Reseller News
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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.
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By Gregory Quick
April 3, 1998
Computer Retail Week
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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.
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