Stepping Process Caused Itanium Delay Says Intel

A "stepping process," and not the lack
of applications for 64-bit computing, is the major reason why the
Itanium chip - the first processor for IA-64 architecture from chip
manufacturer Intel Corp. [NASDAQ:INTC], will be shipped by the last
quarter of this year, and not earlier within its original "second half of
2000" schedule.

Intel is promising, however, that come the last fourth quarter of
2000, the Itanium will deliver on its promise and that the chip will be
delivered in the global market on time.

"A stepping process is a series of tests that Intel felt should be
conducted for the Itanium chip so as not to compromise its
performance and quality," explained Paolo Lopez, architecture
manager for Intel's Philippines and Thailand operations.

Although he noted that Intel is making sure that 64-bit systems will
be ready in time for the Itanium launch, he stressed that the
availability or unavailability of these systems did not contribute to
the shipment delay.

Currently, industry giants including HP, IBM, Sun Microsystems,
and Compaq, have expressed their commitment to "port" their
operating systems to the IA-64 platform. These operating systems
include Linux, Windows, Project Monterey, Solaris, and Tru64,
among others.

"Intel is making sure that vertical 64-bit applications will be there
by the time of the launch. Through the "Intel 64 Fund," we are
encouraging developers to come up with 64-bit applications," said
Lopez.

Lopez added that there are currently 5,000 Itanium-powered
prototypes around the globe being used for this purpose.

Recently, global IT vendor Hewlett-Packard (HP), Intel's
co-developer of the IA-64 architecture, unveiled an IA-64
development center in the company's headquarters in Japan.

According to Lopez, companies supporting the IA-64 platform are
pouring in $200 million for the Intel 64 Fund to "accelerate" the
IA-64 platform.

Lopez said there are currently ongoing IA-64 projects being
facilitated through the Intel 64 Fund, including projects by "IA-64
early adapters" such as Bank of America, Sabre, Reuters, and
automotive giant Ford, among others.

The Intel 64 Fund is also serving as a "middleman" between
customers, ISVs (independent software vendors), OEMs
(original equipment manufacturers) who may want to engage in
IA-64-based projects.

Meanwhile, Intel officials announced recently that the Pentium 4,
(P4), touted to be the first gigahertz-class chip from Intel
Corporation is also set for commercial roll out in the last quarter of
this year.

The P4 chip, code-named "Willamette" in its development stage,
will have entry-level clock speeds of 1.3 to 1.4 GHz and will be
based on the .13 micron process, a revolutionary leap from the
.18 micron process Intel has been using in its previous Pentium
chip product line.

"You might have noticed that instead of using the Roman numeral
system, we are using the Arabic system for Pentium 4. This
means we are using totally new technologies for this processor
class and this technology is revolutionary," said Lopez.

Aside from the .13 micron process, notable manufacturing steps
the company has taken will also include increasing the clock
speed increments from 33 MHz to 100 MHz, an initiative, Lopez
said, that is market-driven.

No benchmarks have yet been conducted for the newest chip,
but P4 is expected to raise the performance bar much higher than
the latest Pentium III, as the P4 will have a 400 MHz system bus to
complement the gigahertz chip using a RAMbus-type memory.

Lopez further said the P4 chip essentially follows Intel's now
famous processor road map, as the chip will initially cater to
techno-savvy and computing-intensive users such as graphics
development houses, production, and publishing works, among
others.

"For home users, upgrading will depend on how long the user
wants to use his system. Will you use it for one, two or three
years? Will you use it just for simple browsing? Or will you use it
for graphics-intensive, 3D-heavy, PC games?" said Lopez.

Lopez said there will always be early adopters of the P4,
although a system, powered by a 700 MHz Celeron chip can still
be useful for the home user.

Reported By Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.