Chipsetzilla wins back market share

Intel veep Paul Otellini told analysts this week that the chip behemoth "has recaptured its chipset market share" and in particular has boosted production of the 815 range.

Otellini said when the 815 was introduced early this year, it was 'production limited' because Intel's fab capacity was devoted primarily to processor output.

"In Q3 we were able to get enough capacity to build a much higher volume of 815 chipsets," he said. "We have gained back the chipset market share we previously held."

And Otellini, executive vice president and general manager of the Intel Architecture Group, confirmed that Intel will adopt double-data-rate SDRAM for the company's upcoming Pentium 4 when DDR memory 'becomes mainstream in the market.'

"We will take advantage of DDR, after introducing a single-data-rate SDRAM chipset for Pentium 4 next year," he added.

Otellini maintained the current party line that Rambus is still Intel's preference for the high-performance PC market segment, but added: "in the drive into multiple market price points, we find the need to have multiple memory solutions."

P4 will still launch as a Rambus-only platform on the 20th of this month, Otellini saying: "there is sufficient inventory, production capacity, and supplier commitment that the memory ramp will match our processor ramp. Direct Rambus won't be a ramp limiter."

He would not be drawn on contractual issues related to its agreement with Rambus that currently forbid Intel from shipping a DDR-enabled chipset until 2003. ®

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