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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY /
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Breaking News -
Platforms:
HP To Begin Offering Opteron-Based
Servers
Hewlett-Packard will begin using AMD's Opteron chip in server computers,
according to people familiar with the matter, adding momentum to AMD's
challenge to industry leader Intel Corp in supplying the lucrative market for
corporate computers.
The move is significant because HP has been Intel's primary partner in
rolling
out Itanium, its competing 64-bit processor, a chip credited as a sharp
advance in computing power but which has been slowed in the market by its
higher price.
AMD has staked its future to the success of its rival 64-bit technology,
including Opteron, and analysts said HP's decision to use AMD's processor
underscored the growing strength of the market for low-end -- or volume --
servers.
"2004 is going to be a watershed year for the volume server market, the
Intel
and AMD part of the market," said Mark Melenovsky, an analyst with market
research firm IDC. "It's maturing to the point where it's being used in more
places in the data center."
HP rivals International Business Machines Corp already sells servers that
use
AMD's 64-bit Opteron processor and Sun Microsystems Inc announced its embrace
of Opteron earlier this month at Comdex and will start shipping servers using
the chips next month.
Opteron, like Intel's far more expensive 64-bit chip Itanium chip crunch 64
bits of data at a time compared with the 32-bits processed at once in the
ubiquitous Intel-standard, or x86 chips. Opteron and Itanium are faster at
data-intensive computer uses than the 32-bit variety that Intel's Xeon server
chips represent.
Opteron, which launched in April 2003, has been adopted not only by major
vendors such as IBM, but also by a wide range of second-tier, or "white box"
server makers.
HP declined to comment specifically on its plans for Opteron, but said in a
statement that it "acknowledges customer demand for support from a trusted
vendor for x86 extensions technology in certain market segments... HP is
currently assessing our options in this area."
AMD, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., declined to comment.
But analysts and money managers said that by using the Opteron chip HP
could
look to prevent customers from turning to IBM and Sun for Opteron-based
servers.
"That's not something HP wants to have happen," said Dan Niles, chief
executive of San Francisco based Neuberger Berman Technology Management. "HP's
customers want this, therefore HP is going to offer it."
Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with market research firm Insight 64,
agreed.
"Sun will be out there next month with Opteron, IBM is selling them,"
Brookwood said. "HP is definitely in a mode where they don't want to cede
market share to anybody and they don't want to tie one of their hands behind
their back."
For now, Opteron is targeted principally for servers that cost $25,000 or
less
and Itanium servers can cost $50,000 and far more, but Opteron is making some
headway against Intel's Xeon, the dominant processor in the x86 server
market.
"Opteron is beginning to make a little inroad into the Xeon market,"
Brookwood
said, adding that currently Opteron is viewed as a cheaper alternative to
Xeon, rather than a direct rival to Itanium, because the designs of the
Itanium and Opteron chips are different.
As AMD makes some long-sought gains in the lucrative server market, HP has
to
take care not to confuse customers regarding its strategies for Opteron and
Itanium, analysts said.
"Should they move to Opteron, clearly HP is going to need to communicate
why
that won't hurt Itanium," Brookwood said. "The challenge is how to do that
without creating a perception that Itanium isn't cutting it."
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