Sun smacks Itanic with NEC doubter

Sun used remarks by NEC's chief scientist Leonard Tsai as it set about defending its processor work. Tsai remarks were reported here recently [see Itanic OEM slams Itanic].

"We need to send this processor [Itanium 2] to universities for 25 years so they can find out all the problems," was one of many barbs Tsai had aimed at Itanium in a recent panel discussion.

"We were happy him sharing his experiences," said Susan Kunz, director of marketing for processor and network products.

There was no new product or strategy announced at the session, but Sun execs did drop a clues about Afara Websystems, the mysterious start-up started by Les Kohn, which Sun recently acquired. Afara "have moved into my building" said Kunz. The Valley is alive with the sound of rumors of a multi processor SPARC being brewed by Afara. The Afara team will be contributing to two Sun divisions including the volume design products, said Marc Tremblay, before talking about "super low-cost, low power" systems.

However the Sun execs were more comfortable attacking Itanic.

"Intel has missed the boat in the server market", said one exec*. Which will be received with some amusement by our friends in Santa Clara, we suspect - particularly as Sun enters the Intel server business on Monday.

"Itanium is the biggest disaster in Intel's history," said Sun's Shahin Khan. "SPARC will outlive EPIC for the next 10 years," he said. (Shouldn't that be unqualified? - ed.) "We've been asked to pack our bags and go home ever since 1994, when "

Sun said the company won't be competing with TI, its fab partner, in the handset business.

Sun said they were brewing new benchmarks that take into account the cost of software licensing.

The presentation was marred only by a PDF file which appears to have been left out in the stormy summer rain of London Town. (The following is a screen grab using no compression or reduction.)

From batch processing to blotch processing

If I'd submitted homework like this at school, I'd have been detained after class as punishment. ®

*It could have been Marc, or it could have been Shahin. The two sound very similar over a transatlantic line, causing some confusion amongst the press corps. We suggest that when the two next do a conference call together, one of them (we don't mind which) takes regular blasts of helium, to provide some vital differentiation.

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