Intel execs say faster Pentium plans on track

CNET - Intel executives today reiterated their stance on Y2K issues and said plans to release new, faster Pentium III chips were on track.

"We see little or no impact, based on a careful study of business conditions, on backlog and inventory" from year 2000 concerns, said Sean Maloney, Intel's senior vice president of sales and marketing. Intel first released its prognosis on Y2K issues during its third-quarter conference call earlier this month.

The chip giant is seeing strong demand across all elements of its business, and said that supply is expected to be tight for Intel's just-released Pentium III chips.

"We will meet commitments to our customers," Maloney said. A Salomon Smith Barney analyst yesterday cut Intel's earnings estimates, in part due to concerns that chip giant will not be able to meet demand for its new processors, formerly code-named Coppermine.

Maloney also said that the company believes PC prices are stabilizing as the market for memory chips tightens.

"Over the last two years, there has been a steep decline [in PC prices]," Maloney said. "What we are seeing is a tightening of components, and that appears to be halting the decline of PC prices. It looks as if PC prices have stabilized after a fairly lengthy decline."

Also during the call, executive vice president of Intel's architecture group Paul Otellini reiterated previous comments that the firm would have a Pentium III processor running at speeds of 800-MHz in the first half of 2000. The company also plans to unveil a 1 Gigahertz processor, currently code-named Willamette, in the second half of 2000.

Otellini also disclosed a new processor in development, code-named Timna, targeted at low-end PCs, which will integrate all functions onto a single chip.

"This is our first product that is a single chip PC," Otellini said. Timna will be released in the second half of 2000, but no other details were disclosed.

For mobile products, Otellini said Intel plans Pentium III processors running at 700-MHz in the first half of 2000 and 750-MHz in the second half of 2000.

Intel's chief executive Craig Barrett said that the company will continue to expand through acquisitions in the networking and communications sectors, but declined to be more specific.

"We have been doing about one acquisition a month," Barrett said "As we go forward, and I'm not making any projections here, but I do anticipate that we will do acquisitions in this networking and communications space."
(28.10.99)