Las Vegas - Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) and its K6 microprocessor may have grabbed more headlines recently, but fellow processor vendor Cyrix Corp. here this week showed strong signs of emerging as a more viable threat to Intel Corp.
In a significant reversal of roles, Cyrix officials said they now have secured a steady supply of chips from multiple sources, in contrast to the supply problems haunting AMD, and said the company now stands on firm financial ground following the completion earlier this week of its merger with National Semiconductor Corp.
"I am totally committed to the sub-$1,000 market," said Stan Swearingen, senior director, mid-range products at Cyrix. "I just don't see why we should be banging our heads against Intel."
OEM customers such as PC and network computer (NC) vendors appear to be paying attention.
Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp., for example, here at the Comdex/Fall '97 exposition showed off a JavaOS NC powered by 150-MHz to 180-MHz Media GX chips. The MonAMI/ES is already shipping in Japan at a cost of about $1,000, and Mitsubishi plans to introduce the device into the U.S. market by the second quarter next year, officials said.
Digital Equipment Corp. also is readying a MediaGX-based desktop PC targeted at the corporate market that could carry a price tag of less than $800, sources close to the company said.
And that price point could still get lower, said Cyrix. The company last week unveiled a reference design targeted at enabling OEMs to design $500 managed PCs for the corporate market.
It would be naive to believe that the corporate market would not follow in the footsteps of the consumer segment, in which cheap PCs have taken the market by storm, Swearingen said. He was referring to the success of Compaq Computer Corp.'s MediaGX-powered, low-cost Presario series - which in February helped to start the sub-$1,000 segment explosion in the U.S. consumer retail market.
In a move to further expand its presence in the consumer segment, Cyrix here demonstrated a prototype device based on its Media Center concept.
The design is based on a forthcoming 200 MHz-plus version of the MediaGX chip and packs a range of digital home entertainment devices such as a digital video disk player, high-end audio system, speaker phone, television tuner and Internet access.
To enable the production of such devices at an affordable cost to the customer, the MediaGX is about to get a couple performance boosts with 200-MHz and 233-MHz MMX-compliant versions called MediaGXM scheduled for release in the first quarter of next year, said Swearingen.
Cyrix will further up the ante by the third quarter of next year by introducing a follow-up code-named MXi, which will carry a PR-300 performance rating and run internally at 250-MHz on an 83-MHz system bus, he added.
"It will be a Pentium II-class chip but priced between $75 and $100, allowing vendors to build $1,000 workstations," Swearingen said.
Unlike AMD, however, Cyrix will not try to boost the chip's performance by adding a larger cache or adding 3-D functionality, he said. In 1999, Cyrix plans to come out with its next-generation M3 chip, he added, which will compete with Intel's forthcoming Merced as well as AMD's K7 chips.
Cyrix also is bullish on its supply capabilities, now that the company has entered into a foundry agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., (TSMC) said Swearingen.
TSMC is on track to start supplying Cyrix with 6x86MX chips by the first quarter of next year built using the Hsinchu, Taiwan-based chip maker's in-house developed 0.25 process technology, he added.
The 0.25 micron design rule will allow Cyrix to shrink the die size of the 6x86MX, allowing the chip series to reach speeds as high as 250-MHz, giving the chips a performance compatible to a 300-MHz Intel processor, Swearingen said.
By the end of 1998, the performance rating will reach a 350-MHz level, he added.
Cyrix also will be able to leverage TSMC's 0.25-micron rules at a new National Semiconductor wafer fabrication plant, which already has started pilot runs, he said.
As a result, Cyrix next year expects to be able to supply between 10 million and 15 million processors, as compared to the 1.4 million chips that are shipped in the current quarter from IBM, which currently serves as the sole maker of Cyrix-designed processors, Swearingen said.
In 1999, the combined manufacturing capacities at IBM, National Semiconductor and TSMC will allow the company to ship as many as 30 million chips, he added.
