14th July 1999 Archive

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Intel's financials fail to excite

But revenues rise 14 per cent yoy

Chip giant Intel showed revenues of $6.7 billion for its second financial quarter with profits of $1.7 billion. That shows a rise of 14 per cent in revenues, compared to Q2 1998, while profits rose 49 per cent compared to the same period last year. However, Wall Street had expected Intel to post stronger results, and was a …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 07:00
Merced taped out

Samples in two months

Intel has managed to tape out its design for the Merced IA-64 microprocessor. That means that samples are likely to be with customers within eight weeks or so. Paul Otellini, a senior VP at Intel, confirmed the news at a conference call following the release of its Q2 financial results. The completion of the design means that …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 07:08
What the Hell is…Geyserville

It's an Intel cunning plan, we think...

It's a small town in California chosen by Chipzilla to provide the codename for its forthcoming 0.18 micron mobile Coppermine processors - the first mobiles to bear the Pentium III brand. Due out at the end of this year (so don't hold your breath, folks, Q1 2000 would be a much safer bet) Geyserville technology is supposed to …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 09:41
It's in the paper so it must be true

You know where you are with a Murdoch rag - ill-informed

Team Register reads The Times - its a pity that Times sub editors don't do the same. The Times reports what must be the IT acquisition bargain of the decade. In a story in both today's printed version (page 35) and on the web site here, The Thunderer reports that IBM paid just $810 for Sequent - the Sherriff's trusty calculator …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 09:44
SiS intros 128-bit graphics chip

Supporting environmental bump mapping, dontcha know

Details about the SiS300 graphics chip have emerged. Hardware site Fullon3D says the graphic product will be integrated into new versions of SiS core logic sets 630/450. According to the site, which has prepared a set of benchmarks, the SiS300 is a standalone graphics chip which will supersede the SiS 6326. The 128-bit chip will …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 10:19
ClaraNet users to get free Web calls

Latest in growing number of ISPs to opt for free calls carrot

London-based ClaraNet has joined in the free calls gold rush currently sweeping through the UK ISP market. Starting on 2 August, ClaraNet will begin operating four packages all offering free calls. FreeTime12 costs £5.99 per month and gives the user 12 hours of free calls; FreeTime35 costs £14.99 per month and gives 35 hours of …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 10:53
Bristol demands $263 million as MS trial goes to jury

MS on Trial But Caldera still leads in the vast claim stakes

The closing arguments in Bristol Technology's antitrust suit against Microsoft were heard yesterday, with the Connecticut company asking for damages of up to $263 million. These could be tripled, if the jury concludes that Microsoft is guilty of anti-competitive behaviour, so the total tab could be as high as $789 million. …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 10:58
ilion says no thanks to Landis bid offer

Accuses rival of undervaluing the company

Troubled networking distributor ilion has rejected an acquisition bid by rival Landis, saying the offer undervalued the group. Landis approached the networking distributor with a cash offer for all ilion's issued share capital at 114 pence per share, according to an ilion statement. The offer was subject to pre-conditions …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 11:01
Socket Eight to S370 convertors coming

And you'll find them in your local Japanese store

Several Japanese sites are billing an adaptor which allows the conversion of Pentium Pro's Socket Eight to a Socket 370 configuration. (See for example, this site). The systems are set to arrive in early August, and will allow single and dual Socket Eight motherboards to take Celeron S370 processors at multiple speeds, again in …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 11:06
Baron Hard-Up alive and kicking & working for CHS

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Margins are tight in distribution, so are the distributors… We suspected CHS Electronics might be experiencing a few cash-flow problems, but The Register had no idea things were getting so tight. On a recent trip to the distributor’s factory in Holland, the entourage of press and CHS management was sitting in the stifling heat …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 11:08
VIA to set up fab venture with TSMC

Only real men have fabs

Asian wire Nikkei is reporting that VIA will set up a joint venture with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to produce chips. That will happen once VIA has concluded its negotiations to buy Cyrix, according to the reports. And the wire is reporting that VIA thinks it will have 10 per cent of the global x.86 market …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 11:17
Quill pen set to make comeback in channel

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SCC admits it doesn't trust email - snail mail much better One of the great pioneers of IT reselling, SCC, yesterday revealed it didn't actually trust technology all that much. The Brummie-based reseller (now number two in the market, we gather) told The Register it never sends out press releases via email "in case they got …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 11:19
Motorola demands help keeping Iridium in orbit

Issues stern ultimatum to fellow investors

Motorola yesterday issued an ultimatum to fellow investors in the troubled satellite-based cellphone service, Iridium: start supporting the company, or it will pull the plug on its own extra financial support. Issued alongside Motorola's Q2 results, the statement said the company "will not provide any further support beyond …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 11:30
Channel mag claims week-old story to be exclusive

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The Register plays Prince Naseem to paper’s Frank Bruno... When is an exclusive story not an exclusive story? Silly question – you’d think so, but perhaps it’s not as silly as you’d think. We enjoy reading our copy of PC Dealer when it comes in on a Wednesday morning, and today (Weds 14 July) we saw that its front-page lead …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 11:35
Hard drives for the masses from Fujitsu

Targets budget PCs and high-power users

Fujitsu has announced details of a new product family of hard drives targeting a wider range of users. Fujitsu said the drives reflect the diverse nature of its customer base. The series includes low-cost drives, drives optimised for Internet and audio-visual applications, and for high-end performance desktops. All the drives …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 11:44
UN proposes email tax

Fees would fund expansion of Net into developing countries

The United Nations wants email users to subsidise the extension of the Internet to Third World countries, according to a report released by the UN Development Programme earlier this week. Essentially, the report calls on governments to introduce legislation that would require Net users to pay a tax of one US cent on every 100 …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 11:46
Taxman profits from computer foul-up

Surplus £20m sloshing around may even help Andersen dodge the flying doo-doo

As if fate were rubbing salt into the wounds of the OAP's whose pensions were delayed, £20 million has landed in the lap of the Inland Revenue, thanks to the well publicised balls-up involving the new National Insurance computer system. The extra interest on money that should have been paid out in benefits amounted to a massive …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 11:49
Chips, phones boost Motorola Q2

But Iridium still casts a shadow

Motorola yesterday posted profits of $273 million on revenues of $7.5 billion for its second quarter, ended 26 June, beating Wall Street expectations The figures show a marked turnaround on last year's Q2 results, in which the company recorded a loss of $1.3 billion on revenues of $7.0 billion. The company assigned the …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 12:04
Datrontech to push Acer notebooks

SME sector targeted by latest addition to Acer distribution tier

Acer has signed up Datrontech to distribute its notebooks in the UK. The deal will be worth around £10 million in the first year in much-needed sales to the Basingstoke-based distributor. Taiwanese PC vendor Acer said the agreement would expand its laptop customer base. It wanted to use Datrontech for a push into the SME market …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 12:05
A year ago: Widespread support doubles Rambus profit

Fortune smiles on company with next year's DRAM technology

Posted 15 July 1998 -- a year ago Chip company Rambus has doubled its profits in its third financial quarter, boosted by support from the Intel Corporation and backed by a bevy of semiconductor manufacturers. The company turned over $9.2 million, showing profits of $1.8 million. That compares to a profit of $505,000 in the same …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 12:30
Jobs shed as PC Science pared to bone

150 lose their jobs – announcement of sale expected soon

PC Science, the assembler that went into receivership last week, has laid off 150 staff. This leaves 30 workers to run the North Yorkshire company while a buyer is sought the receivers, KPMG, said in a statement today. Adverts have been placed in the national press and KPMG said it was talking to several interested parties with …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 14:58
Lucent highlights laser networking system

10Gbps throughput set for summer 2000 release

Lucent today introduced a new laser-based optical networking technology under the WaveStar OpticAir brand. The system, which will ultimately see commercial light of day around March 2000, connects sites using lasers of a single wave frequency. That provides, claims Lucent, data throughput rates of up to 2.5Gbps. However, using …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 15:10
Intel grows up

Ah, the good old gulag...

What happens to Chipzilla's old processors? You know, the ones launched back in the dark ages over a year ago. Do they die? Do they shuffle off into the legendary chip gulag? No. They mature. Check out Intel's new web site for the older processor here. The use of the MIPS name for the site seems to indicate that a vestige of …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 15:42
Just shut up about the goddamn Internet, willya?

Opinion An ex-Intel geeza speaks out

When will companies like IBM, Intel and just about every other IT supplier realise that continually banging on about the Internet isn't the way to earn more bucks, writes Pete Sherriff. Promoting any individual company's Internet expertise is great publicity for the Web, but is just as valuable for the competition as for the …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 15:55
Beans dished on Compaq-DEC deal by Shannon

End users are very, very irritated by Big Q's move...

The latest edition of a newsletter from industry analyst Terry Shannon, who does the Shannon knows Compaq site has highlighted an interesting Compaq phenomenon. According to Shannon, an acknowledged expert on the Digital-Compaq platform, the company is going through "the mother of all re-orgs". Shannon says in his latest edition …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 16:09
What the Hell is… a tapeout?

Intel explains its inside plans

We thought it was probably worth writing one of our irregular series about the chip companies' term "to tape out" because we received loads of letters from our many readers asking what the hell it meant. Some of them were very worried about a new verb being formed with the word tape inside, and they weren't thinking about …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 16:29
E*Trade swoops on Irish firm

Takes first steps toward setting up international trading group

Electronic trading took a step toward becoming more commonplace as online brokers E*Trade bought Irish clearing and settlement company, TIR Holdings for $122 million in stock. It is a daring move for the US company and, according to today's FT, marks an important step in building a cross-border electronic trade network. While E* …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 16:51
AMD thoroughly undervalued…

...and so is Compaq

The entire world and its dog is waiting for AMD's results at 21.30, UK time. It predicted a big loss, as usual, but has more ammunition this time than last year. Will IBM buy it? It should. AMD's share price has languished in the so-called US term "boondocks" for the last two weeks at seventeen bucks a share. As we have …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 19:15
Rambus gets dead bullish about results…

..and when we say bullish we mean bullish

Like every other US listed corporation, Rambus was forced to file its financial results today. The company, which has an Intel investment, said it had Q3 revenues of $10.6 million, a mere 16 per cent rise year on year. But in a telling statement, Rambus said the company's revenues included half a million bucks of deferred …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 20:54
Apple doubles profits year on year

But only by flogging ARM shares and selling a few iMacs

Apple today announced profits of $203 million on revenues of $1.56 billion, making its most recent third quarter, ended 26 June, its seventh consecutive profitable three-month period. For the same time last year, the company made $101 million on revenues of $1.4 billion. Of course, this time last year, Apple had yet to launch …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 22:19
AMD Q2 results not too bad but Atiq Raza leaves

Power struggle ends up with Sanders pyrrhic victor

AMD has posted its biggest ever quarterly loss and at the same time was hit by the departure of one of its senior executives. Totally unexpectedly, Atiq Raza, who has masterminded the company's move to develop its x86 strategy, quit, for "personal reasons". That will be a big loss for AMD. Raza became the day-to-day manager of …

Business 14 Jul 1999, 22:54