Sparkle Computer introduces GeForce 6-series PCIe cards
Sparkle, a manufacturer and supplier of VGA cards, has introduced the latest card in its GeForce 6 series, the Sparkle GeForce 6200. The GeForce 6200 is the company’s entry-level PCI Express (PCIe) product, said a company spokesperson.
The Sparkle GeForce 6200 supports Microsoft DirectX 9.0 and Shader Model 3.0 for increased graphics and system performance. The 6200 will be available in both 128MB and 256MB versions and will have a core clock speed of 300MHz. The Sparkle GeForce 6200 also has Nvidia Ultra Shadow II technology, which will enhance the performance of some of the industry’s latest games. It also has the added benefit of a dedicated on-chip video processor, intended to enhance overall system performance.
Mass shipments of the GeForce 6200 graphics card were scheduled to begin on November 3, and it will be in stores by month-end. According to the spokesperson the spokesperson, the company currently has an SLI-ready Nvidia 6600 GT card available, while the SLI-ready 6800 GT is currently sampling. There are no GPUs yet available for the GeForce 6800 Ultra, and no date has yet been scheduled for availability of this card.
Broadband-equipment makers pessimistic about ADSL2
Broad adoption of ADSL2+ technology will not happen for at least another one or two more years, according to sources at Taiwan-based broadband-equipment makers. Although international chip vendors are gearing up to introduce their first solutions supporting ADSL2+, Internet service providers are not following in the short term. Vendors who have solutions ready for ADSL2+ include Analog Devices (ADI), Centillium, Conexant Systems, Infineon Technologies, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments (TI). Taiwan-based TrendChip Technologies, in partnership with United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), also recently joined the competition.
ADSL2+ equipment, from DSLAMs to CPE (customer premise equipment), will be more costly to deploy than current ADSL equipment, by around 10-20%, sources at Taiwan makers pointed out. Due to an over abundance of next-generation standards, and with WiMAX and FTTP (fiber-to-the premise) waiting to be rolled out next year, ISPs are still weighing the cost and potential upgradability of any new technology, before entering any of these possible markets, the sources observed. Taiwan-based xDSL manufacturers also indicated that ADSL2 and ADSL2+ deployment will be minimal until 2006.
DRAM supply in spot market tightening
Tight supply of fully tested DRAM chips in the Asian spot markets has intensified as major global chipmakers continue to increase their chip allocation to PC OEMs, according to sources in Taiwan. To meet demand for PC OEMs in Europe, Infineon Technologies cut 40% of its DRAM supply for the spot market in Asia, with Micron Technology making similar moves, said DRAM distributors.
The development is intensifying a shortage of chips in the spot markets in Asia, which have also been troubled by an ongoing testing capacity crunch in Taiwan. However, DRAM spot prices may not necessarily accelerate upwards since some chipmakers are now shipping more untested (UTT) chips to the spot market, to weather the testing capacity shortage, said Joyce Yang, a manager at DRAMeXchange.
‘The UTT chips are tested with fewer procedures, compared to the branded, fully-tested ones. Some module makers and DRAM traders are buying UTT chips as an alternative,’ Yang said.
Contract prices may be higher than spot prices due to the increasing UTT supply, Albert Lin, spokesperson for ProMOS Technologies, said. The Taiwan-based DRAM maker is also benefiting from rising demand from PC OEMs since they will account for 70% of the firm’s DRAM shipments.
VIA supports new AMD CPUs
VIA Technologies announced that its VIA K8T890 series chipsets will support the new AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 processor and AMD Athlon 64 processor 4000+.
The PCIe-enabled K8T890 Series supports up to five PCI Express devices directly into the chipset North Bridge and a total of 20 PCIe lanes for a combined bandwidth of 10GB/s. The K8T890 Series chipsets include support for the latest PCI Express x16 graphics cards, and up to four PCI Express x1 connections, such as Gigabit Ethernet and HDTV tuner cards. Future versions of the K8T890 Series will include the VIA DualGFX Express feature, a solution that stands ready to support all dual graphics card industry standards. The DualGFX Express provides enhanced single application performance with supporting graphics cards and multi-monitor support. The K8T890 series chipsets is expected to be available in November.
Shuttle complete SFF XPCs to market
Shuttle Computer began marketing complete systems from its XPC line of small-form-factor (SFF) computers worldwide. The company already sells complete XPC systems in the US and some European countries.
Shuttle aims to ship about 10,000 complete XPC systems a month in the fourth quarter of this year, including 5,000 units for international markets and 5,000 units for the domestic market, according to chairman David Yu.
Yu said that Shuttle began shipping complete XPC-branded PCs in the US market in May and to Europe in September.
The company’s total SFF PC shipments, including barebones units, are expected to increase 20% this year from 650,000 units in 2003. The company also plans to ship 800,000 units in 2005, Yu asserted.
Yu expects shipments of complete XPC systems to account for 15-20% of Shuttle’s total shipments next year.
Yu also said that Shuttle’s gross margins will improve substantially in 2005 since its complete systems will carry price tags ranging from US$700 to US$1,000, compared to an average of US$200 for its barebone SFF PCs.
Asustek own-brand notebooks reach 1.2 million units
Shipments of Asustek Computer’s own-brand notebooks are expected to total 1.2 million units this year, accounting for 40% of the company’s notebook-shipment target of three million units, said company CFO Alexander Lee.
Asustek shipped 700,000 own-brand notebooks in 2003, Lee noted. Lee also said that the company’s revenues generated from complete systems this year are expected to triple from last year, although he did not provide definite figures. DigiTimes reported earlier that Asustek aims to ship three million OEM and one million own-brand complete systems in 2004.
In related news, Asustek vice chairman T.H. Tung said in an interview with DigiTimes that Asustek will launch two notebooks, the A3 and A4, in the fourth quarter of this year. The A4 will be a wide-screen model, Tung noted.
Asustek will launch its V-series notebooks, which use Intel’s Alviso chipsets, when the new chipsets become available.
Intel’s Sonoma to launch January
Despite reports that it may delay its Sonoma platform launch to the second quarter of next year, Intel has informed its clients in Taiwan that its new mobile platform will be launched globally between January 17-21, 2005, with pre-launch sales beginning in Japan 10 days earlier, according to sources at Taiwan PC makers.
Intel also affirmed that its Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (EE) 3.73 GHz and 600-series desktop CPUs, which will also be launched in the first quarter of next year, will feature Intel’s Extended Memory 64 Technology, or Intel EM64T, the sources noted.
In the third quarter of 2005, Intel will launch its dual-core processor for desktops, codenamed Smithfield, the sources added. The launch was previously reported as set for mid-2005.
Intel will roll out three versions of the Smithfield processor initially, with clock speeds of 2.8, 3.0 and 3.2GHz, respectively. In addition, each core of the Smithfield processor will feature 1MB of L2 cache, according to the sources. Intel Smithfield dual-core processors will also feature Intel’s Speedstep technology, which can reduce the power consumption of the CPU and help optimize heat dissipation, the sources added.
VIA shares in chipset market climbs
VIA Technologies’ share in the global core-logic chipset market increased sequentially by 3.6 percentage points to 18.5% in the third quarter of this year, said Dan Heyler, a semiconductor analyst at Merrill Lynch. The growth came as VIA’s third-quarter shipments of chipsets supporting Intel and AMD CPUs rose 17% and 67%, respectively, from the second quarter, Heyler noted.
Core-logic chipset market shares for ATI Technologies, nVidia and Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) also increased one percentage point each to 4.5%, 4.2% and 9.9%, respectively, in the third quarter.
Intel’s share of the core-logic chipset market declined 6.7 percentage points sequentially to 62.1% in the third quarter, Heyler said.
Despite recent gains, Taiwan-based core-logic chipset makers are unlikely to see their profits increase substantially in 2005 due to price competition in the lower- to middle-end chipset segments, Heyler asserted.
Apacer takes aim at the China white-box market
Apacer, a Taiwan-based DRAM-module maker, is aiming to occupy 20% of the white-box PC market in China in 2005. China accounted for 21% of the worldwide DRAM-module market in 2003 and is expected to account for 30% of the global market in 2007, replacing the US as the largest market, according to iSuppli.
Demand in the white-box PC and upgrade market in China totals 400,000-700,000 modules per month, is estimated.
For 2005, Apacer also plans to ship more modules used in notebooks and servers, where competition is less severe. Apacer currently sells more modules used in desktops.
From 2003-2007, worldwide shipments of DRAM modules are forecast to grow at a 17% CAGR to 614 million units, iSuppli estimated.
SPWG in Taiwan to discuss notebook displays
Mark Fihn and Paul Salisbury, coordinators of the Standard Panels Working Group (SPWG), are in Taiwan to get feedback from local manufacturers on current and future standards for displays used in notebooks. The SPWG hopes to address concerns about the SPWG v3.0 standard, discuss the proposed SPWG v3.5 and look forward to SPWG v4.0. With different focus groups attending each of the sessions – although the agendas will cover the same general topics – the debates are expected to be very different.
One of the more controversial issues to be discussed is the standardization of size and aspect ratio for 14.1-inch wide screens. The majority of display and notebook makers have adopted a 14.1-inch screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio; the alternative is a 14.0-inch screen with a 15:9 aspect ratio. In the latest SPWG quarterly newsletter, Fihn makes it clear that they see the majority solution as the best way forward, although he hopes to hear more from supporters of the alternative.
Asustek tops first-tier mobo makers
Asustek Computer had the highest net EPS (earnings per share) among Taiwan’s first-tier motherboard makers, reaching NT$4.51 for the first three quarters of this year, according to data released by the makers.
Asustek’s third-quarter pre-tax profits of NT$4.23 billion were higher than the market expectation of NT$3.70-3.80 billion, having increased 35% from the second quarter.
For the first three quarters, Asustek had accumulated pre-tax profits of NT$11.72 billion, a 30% rise from a year earlier and accounting for 73% of the company’s 2004 target of NT$16 billion.
Gigabyte Technology and Micro-Star International (MSI) also saw sequential third-quarter profit increases of 40% and 126%, respectively. Gigabyte saw pre-tax profits of NT$680 million and MSI pre-tax profits of NT$149 million in 3Q. However, pre-tax profits for the first three quarters saw Gigabyte Technology down 35.7% and MSI down 74.4% from a year earlier, for cumulative totals of NT$1.92 billion and NT$574 million, respectively, the data showed.
Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) managed to lower its pre-tax losses to NT$23.6 million in the third quarter from a loss of NT$635.5 million in the second quarter.
Price-raise nVidia for GeForce MX4000 and FX5200
Recently nVidia raised the prices of its GeForce MX4000 (NV18) and FX5200 (NV34) graphics chips by about 5%, according to Taiwan graphics-card makers.
The current tight supply of entry-level graphics chips, including ATI Technologies’ Radeon 9200-series, prompted nVidia to hike the prices of its chips, said the sources.
Prior to the price hikes, the MX4000 and FX5200 were priced at around US$11 and US$17, respectively, the sources noted.
Intel to unveil 1066MHz FSB P4
Intel plans to unveil its first Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (EE) processor compatible with a 1066MHz front side bus (FSB) i november, according to Taiwan motherboard makers.
In addition, Intel will launch its 925XE core-logic chipset supporting the 1066MHz FSB, the sources added.
The Pentium 4EE will feature a clock speed of 3.46 GHz and 2MB of L3 cache and is likely to carry a unit price of US$999 in 1,000 unit lots, while the 925XE will be priced at US$50, according to the sources.
Prior to the official launch, some distributors in Japan had already begun stocking their shelves with 1066MHz FSB Pentium 4EE CPUs and 925XE-based motherboards manufactured by Asustek. Other Taiwan motherboard makers, such as Gigabyte and MSI will also soon start marketing 925XE-based boards.
Intel plans to introduce a Pentium 4EE running at 3.73GHz in the first quarter of 2005, said the sources.
Realtek: WLAN to become growth driver
Realtek Semiconductor, a Taiwan-based IC design house, is projecting that its single-chip WLAN division will drive the company’s performance in 2005, according to vice president Chen Chin-hsing at an investors conference. The company anticipates that its complete WLAN offering, which includes IEEE 802.11g and 802.11a/b/g combo solutions, with the latter category also including USB 2.0-based designs, will gradually be incorporated into adapter cards, access points (APs) and router appliances by the end of next year.
Realtek’s WLAN solutions have all obtained Wi-Fi Alliance certification, Chen stated. Initial shipments of the WLAN 802.11g solutions started in October, the WLAN 802.11a/b/g solutions, including 802.11a/b/g with USB 2.0 connectivity, are scheduled to begin their respective shipments by year-end or January.
In addition to WLAN solutions, Realtek began sampling a PCIe-compliant single-chip Gigabit Ethernet solution to customers in October, and mass production should follow in early 2005. The firm’s major product segment, 10/100M Ethernet LAN, began being incorporated in DVD players in the third quarter of this year, Chen said.
Realtek should also achieve shipments of 5.6 million units in the LCD-driver-IC segment this year, up from 2.4 million in 2003, according to Chen. This projection indicates the company should achieve a 10-12% share of the global LCD-driver-IC market for this year. Realtek originally estimated six million units in shipments and a 12-15% market share.
Shipments of the company’s Gigabit Ethernet controllers should hike almost 70% this half, up from 1.2 million units in the first quarter. Shipments totaled only 750,000 units in 2003.