Semiconductor giant Intel Corp plans to update its Xeon server processor so that it can address vastly more memory than previous generations and compete head-on with Advanced Micro Devices Inc's (AMD) Opteron chips.
Until now, Intel's 64-bit strategy revolved solely around its high-end Itanium processors, which were codeveloped with Hewlett-Packard Co for the most demanding computing jobs. Anything else could be handled by today's 32-bit processors, the company had said.
On Tuesday, Intel changed its tune, saying an increasing number of programs -- primarily for the business world -- can take advantage of the additional memory made possible with 64 bits. Operating systems that support 64-bit computing are now available or in testing.
Intel, which introduced Itanium just as demand was collapsing in the 2001 downturn, said it is not backing away from that chip despite sales that have failed to meet original expectations.
"We're trying to span the range from the very high-end enterprise down to the smaller server workstation," Craig Barrett, Intel's chief executive, said at the company's spring developer conference.
The new Xeons, which will become available in the second quarter, will be targeted at servers and workstations, as opposed to large corporate mainframe computers for Itanium chips. Unlike Itanium, the Xeons can run existing programs designed for 32-bit chips without a performance hit.
Intel's announcement ratchets up the competition with AMD and affirms the smaller company's 64-bit computing strategy.
"They've finally started listening to customers -- and listening to the same customers we've been talking to for some time," said Ben Williams, director of AMD's server and workstation business segments.
Last year, AMD, which until then was primarily known for producing Intel clones, launched its 64-bit Opteron server chip. Unlike Itanium, it did not require an emulation mode to run older programs.
"The timing of Intel's move allowed AMD to get established in the market," said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at Insight 64. "Intel's move now enhances their credibility. In the end, it will be more competitive and that's a huge win for the end user."
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure