Apple Computer Inc, the maker of Macintosh personal computers (PCs), may announce it will use Intel Corp's chips to build faster and cheaper PCs, Cnetnews.com reported.
Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs may announce plans to order chips from Intel in a speech today at a company conference for software developers, Cnetnews.com and the Wall Street Journal said, without saying where they got their information.
If Jobs has decided to get chips from Intel, he will gain access to lower-cost parts that run faster than the chips from former Motorola Inc unit Freescale Semiconductor Inc and IBM Corp that Apple has used to power Macs for 21 years.
By selling to Apple, which has its own PC operating system, Intel would be able to count all major PC makers as customers.
"Any move to embrace Intel could help lower Apple's cost structure and help it compete on the low end," UBS AG analyst Benjamin Reitzes said in a May 23 note after the Wall Street Journal reported Apple was considering a deal with Intel.
Microprocessors are the semiconductors that control all of the basic functions of a PC.
Jobs has been working this year to court customers turned off by Apple's prices and attracted to less-costly machines that run Microsoft's Windows operating system. Microsoft's Windows runs almost 95 percent of the world's PCs.
Cnet reported that Apple will use Intel chips in cheaper, less powerful machines starting next year, then in more expensive models from 2007.
In January, Jobs introduced the Mac mini, the lowest-priced Mac ever. The Mac mini starts at US$499 without a monitor, keyboard and mouse, and aims to rival so-called Wintel systems, Windows-based PCs that run on Intel chips.
Dell Inc, the world's largest PC maker, sells Intel-based desktops starting at US$299, according to the company's Web site.
Demand for the Mac is being spurred by consumer interest in Apple's iPod, the best-selling digital music player in the US.
The company posted its biggest PC sales gain in five years in the first quarter, with Mac shipments surging 45 percent, according to the Stamford, Connecticut-based researcher Gartner Inc. Apple, ranked fifth in US PC sales, saw its share of the market increase to 3.7 percent from 2.6 a year before, Gartner said.
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
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