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阅读：蓝色巨人
2002-05-06 08:09:37
IBM is nixing plans to use Transmeta's power-saving Crusoe chips in its new ultralight ThinkPads due out in the fourth quarter.
SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 2 — IBM Corp. has canceled plans to use an energy-saving chip manufactured by Transmeta Corp. in its upcoming laptop computers, deflating the upstart's balloon one week before it goes public.
IBM instead will continue using Intel chips — the Pentium III and Celeron — in its ultralight ThinkPads due to roll out in the fourth quarter, company spokesman Tim Blair said Wednesday. IBM said in June it would use Transmeta's low-powered Crusoe semiconductor.
"We'll continue to look at Transmeta for future products in the ThinkPad line, but at this point, for this product, we're not going to market with it right now," he said.
Blair would not say whether the decision was related to product performance, engineering problems or marketing issues, exacerbating the skepticism surrounding Transmeta’s outlook before its scheduled Nov. 6 initial public offering.
"It certainly will put a cloud on Transmeta's plans," said Steve Kleynhans, an analyst with the Meta Group who follows the chip industry. "People will wonder: 'What did IBM discover as they moved forward in developing a machine with this product?' It may have nothing to do with performance, but people will say, IBM is a smart company … and people will infer that there's something negative about [Transmeta's] product."
Transmeta downplayed the fallout of IBM's decision and said it remains confident in its growing list of customers.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Transmeta unveiled its Crusoe chip in January after five years of highly secretive development. The chip's "code-morphing" technology is supposed to consume less power and give off less heat and thus extend the battery life for laptop computers.
Transmeta has been positioning itself to cut into the market share of Intel Corp.
IBM was among several laptop manufacturers at the PC Expo in June to show off a prototype using the Crusoe chip. Sony Corp., Fujitsu Ltd., and NEC Corp have each begun using Crusoe chips in the latest models of their ultralight laptops.
"IBM was the biggest feather in Transmeta's cap," Kleynhans said. "To make up the volume it would have had with IBM, it would need two or three other computer makers, and they still wouldn't have the prestige of IBM."  推荐给好友  打印本页
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