June 8, 1998
Non-Intel CPUs coming on strong
By Bob O'Donnell
Amid the federal investigations of the roles Microsoft and Intel play in the computer
market, something even more dramatic is happening in the chip world. Intel, unlike
Microsoft, is starting to get some serious competition for its bread-and-butter product
line. Several microprocessor companies -- notably AMD, Cyrix and IDT -- are starting to
make their presence felt in the PC industry and are beginning to put a chink into the
previously impenetrable fortress of Intel's CPU market share.
Of course, these competitors aren't new; AMD and Cyrix, in particular, have been
plugging away in the alternative processor market for years. But what is new is that
momentum seems to be heading in their direction, for a number of different reasons.
First, the rapid rise and development of the sub-$1,000 PC market has opened a unique
window of opportunity for x86-compatible processors. Despite the company's massive
"Intel Inside" marketing campaign, it seems that PC purchasers are more
interested in the price and capabilities of a computer system than who makes the processor
that drives it.
Second, although Intel still clearly owns the high-performance CPU market, recent
product introductions by the alternative vendors show that in the low and midrange
markets, these companies can offer performance-competitive CPUs at attractive prices. The
recent unveiling of AMD's K6-2,
Cyrix's M-II and forthcoming versions
of the WinChip 2 are even further indicators that
this trend should continue.
Of course, the fact that Intel's first entry into the low-cost CPU market, the Celeron,
offers little if any performance gains over older Pentium MMX processors for many
applications has made it even easier for the alternative vendors to compete on performance
and price. The opportunity to compete on performance may be cut short later this year,
however, because Intel's second-generation Celeron (code-name Mendocino) will include
Level 2 cache on the processor itself (like the Pentium Pro), which should give it a
dramatic performance boost. AMD and Cyrix processor road maps also include chips with
onboard Level 2 cache, but most of them are expected to arrive later than Mendocino, which
should give Intel an important competitive edge. Only time will tell on this one.
Finally, AMD's introduction of the 3D Now technology and its immediate endorsement by
Cyrix, IDT, Microsoft and other software vendors shows that the alternative vendors can
provide innovations as well. Frankly, like MMX, I don't think 3D Now will have a dramatic
effect on the software marketplace, but the fact that an Intel competitor came out with a
CPU technology innovation is important. I think it finally shows that these companies are
capable of building more than just "me too" products, which should improve their
overall standing and reputation in the marketplace.
Like Microsoft, Intel is a voracious competitor and will not sit back and watch its
prized position in the market be taken away. But, if the x86-compatible CPU vendors can
continue to deliver compelling products at compelling prices to a wide variety of computer
OEMs, PC buyers may actually have a serious choice in the processor that drives their
machines. And that would be a big change.
©
Copyright 1998, by InfoWorld Publishing Corp., a
subsidiary of IDG Communications, Inc. Reprinted from InfoWorld,
155 Bovet Road, San Mateo, CA 94402. Further reproduction is prohibited.
