routh@eltanin.rtp.semi.harris.com (Kevin Routh x622) (06/20/91)
>From June 17, 1991 EE Times:
"Santa Clara, Calif. - Intel made a massive price move in the
math coprocessor arena last week, slashing suggested retail
prices for it's floating point accelerators by more than
two-thirds in some lines....
The price-cutting spanned the line from the bottom
80287-level part, where the suggested retail price went from
$326 to $99, to the top of the standard math coprocessor parts,
the 33MHz 80387, which was $994 at suggested retail and is now
$299. As part of the move, pricing for all speed grades of the
387 was consolidated at $299."
Wow, can you imagine the margins they must have on these chips?!?
--
Kevin Routh (routh@rtp.semi.harris.com)
Harris Corporation, Durham, NC
(919) 361-1622williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Williams) (06/20/91)
In article <1991Jun20.002949.4128@mlb.semi.harris.com> routh@eltanin.rtp.semi.harris.com (Kevin Routh x622) writes: >>From June 17, 1991 EE Times: > [Intel chops prices on coprossors.] > As part of the move, pricing for all speed grades of the > 387 was consolidated at $299." > >Wow, can you imagine the margins they must have on these chips?!? >-- >Kevin Routh (routh@rtp.semi.harris.com) >Harris Corporation, Durham, NC >(919) 361-1622 Ah HA! THAT explains it! Last night I went into my local SoftWarehouse, uh, sorry, CompUSA, store and there were Intel math coprocessors for $259.00!! My eyes poped out. My jaw dropped. Etc. I would have bought one on the spot, but I was suspicious. Had something happened I hadn't heard about? When I checked a recent copy of PC Week this morning the prices in the back were no where near that good. Now I understand! I'm wondering how low the mail order prices are going to go over the next few weeks...? Jim Spoken: Jim Williams Domain: williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov Phone: +1 301 286-1131 UUCP: uunet!mimsy!williams USPS: NASA/GSFC, Code 933, Greenbelt, MD 20771 Motto: There is no 'd' in "kluge"! It rhymes with "huge", not "sludge".
phil@brahms.amd.com (Phil Ngai) (06/21/91)
williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Williams) writes: >Ah HA! THAT explains it! Last night I went into my local SoftWarehouse, >uh, sorry, CompUSA, store and there were Intel math coprocessors for >$259.00!! My eyes poped out. My jaw dropped. Etc. I would have >bought one on the spot, but I was suspicious. Had something happened >I hadn't heard about? It's called competition. Something that Intel hates. -- Should doctors infected with HIV be required to tell their patients?
robertsw@gtephx.UUCP (Wild Rider) (06/25/91)
In article <5748@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> williams@nssdcs.UUCP (Jim Williams) writes: >In article <1991Jun20.002949.4128@mlb.semi.harris.com> >routh@eltanin.rtp.semi.harris.com (Kevin Routh x622) writes: >>>From June 17, 1991 EE Times: >> >[Intel chops prices on coprossors.] >> As part of the move, pricing for all speed grades of the >> 387 was consolidated at $299." >> >>Wow, can you imagine the margins they must have on these chips?!? wow, can you imagine what it cost to develop these chips?!? wow, can you imagine the r&d that went into these chips?!? wow, do you think they just _maybe_ have recovered most of those development costs & can now pass on the savings to the consumers?!? wow, do you think even _intel_ may be sensitive to the market?!? wow?!? look, i'll bash intel any day of the week for their bash-begging designs. let's just make sure when we bash them that it isn't _mindless_ bashing, ok?!? cheers, wr (the wild rider) -- Wallace Roberts, AG (formerly GTE) Communication Systems, Phoenix, AZ UUCP: ...!{ncar!noao!asuvax | uunet!zardoz!hrc | att}!gtephx!robertsw Internet: gtephx!robertsw@asuvax.eas.asu.edu Bike: '82 GS1100L Suz voice: (602)581-4555 fax: (602)582-7624 Cage: '89 Mustang GT
routh@eltanin.rtp.semi.harris.com (Kevin Routh x622) (06/25/91)
On Jun 24, 5:43pm, Wild Rider wrote: } Subject: Re: Math chip wars... } } >[Intel chops prices on coprossors.] } >> As part of the move, pricing for all speed grades of the } >> 387 was consolidated at $299." } >> } >>Wow, can you imagine the margins they must have on these chips?!? } } wow, can you imagine what it cost to develop these chips?!? } wow, can you imagine the r&d that went into these chips?!? } wow, do you think they just _maybe_ have recovered most of those } development costs & can now pass on the savings to the consumers?!? } wow, do you think even _intel_ may be sensitive to the market?!? } } wow?!? } } look, i'll bash intel any day of the week for their bash-begging } designs. } } let's just make sure when we bash them that it isn't _mindless_ bashing, } }-- End of excerpt from Wild Rider No bashing was intended, I'm sorry it was perceived as such. It was a combination of amazement and envy. I'm amazed that it's possible to drop the prices that much (the costs must have dropped or the margins are huge). And as someone in the chip industry, I envy their status. I am also happy because now I, and many, many more 386 computer owners can afford a math chip. -- Kevin Routh (routh@rtp.semi.harris.com) Harris Corporation, Durham, NC (919) 361-1622
allred@bongo.cc.utexas.edu (Kevin L. Allred) (06/26/91)
In article <1991Jun25.112851.912@mlb.semi.harris.com> routh@eltanin.rtp.semi.harris.com (Kevin Routh x622) writes: ... >} >> As part of the move, pricing for all speed grades of the >} >> 387 was consolidated at $299." .... >I am also happy because now I, and many, many more 386 computer owners >can afford a math chip. > Intel bashing aside, the point really is that this is cutthroat capitalism at work, and it's great news for those of us who could never afford a coprocessor before. Intel was finally feeling the competition from the new 387 compatible manufactures (CYRIX, ITT, SDC, and now AMD). CYRIX, ITT, and SDC all claim (and benchmarks seem to verify), that they make faster parts than the original Intel parts (I haven't seen any reports on AMD chip except that it is supposed to exist). These other companies got into the 387 business because they thought they could make a lot of money by undercutting Intel's price (they had a 20% cheaper street price up until Intel's cut). Yesterday, I called several places that advertised Intel's and at least one other manufacturer's chips (from the back of PC Week). Several of them asked, "what are you willing to pay?", even before giving me a quote. I called SDC yesterday, and they had just lowered their price in response to Intel's cut. The new suggested list price on the chip I was interested in, 16 MHz 387sx compatible, was $119. They told me CompuAdd was their local dealer; so I phoned CompuAdd, and the salesman told me that they hadn't got the price update yet, but if it really was suggest list $119, they would probably price it below $100. I gave him my name and phone number so he could call me when he had their new price. The moral of the story is, it's a buyers market --- find a dealer with a good price, and get a chip while the competition lasts. FYO CYRIX 1-800-FASMATH (1-800-327-6284) SDC 1-800-284-7732 -- Kevin Allred Department of Chemical Engineering The University of Texas at Austin email: allred@emx.cc.utexas.edu
ray@ole.UUCP (Ray Berry) (06/26/91)
routh@eltanin.rtp.semi.harris.com (Kevin Routh x622) writes: ... >No bashing was intended, I'm sorry it was perceived as such. It was a >combination of amazement and envy. I'm amazed that it's possible to >drop the prices that much (the costs must have dropped or the margins >are huge). And as someone in the chip industry, I envy their status. To illustrate just how flexible Intel can be on pricing, listen to this. A few weeks ago I attended an Intel dog/pony show on the 960 series 32 bit cpus intended for embedded systems applications. Basically this fam- ily consists of 5 parts, which are analogous to the 386SX and 386DX, plus 2 parts that would be like an SX/DX but with a built-in FPU, and lastly a high-end part with built-in FPU (but very fast). Ok. These are all 32 bit high-performance CPUs. Lately Intel has been running ads for the low-end member (the 960SA) which has a 16 bit bus interface and no FPU. They're offering these at $20 at 1K units. Through the course of the presentation, the speaker explained to us that the FPU's in the 960 devices were essentially the same as the 387. At the end of the presentation I was curious about the 1K pricing for the 960SB (16 bit bus interface, but *with* the FPU on board- so I asked the price. The reply? $26.00. In other words, you pay another six bucks for the FPU. Another telling tidbit was a viewfoil that showed the five 960 family members positioned on a cost/performance graph along with the 386/486 parts. According to this particular viewfoil, the high-end 960CA was shown rating *above* the 486 in performance, while it was floating around the $100 mark in price. Never one to miss an opportunity I inquired as to the explanation for this mysterious situation - was the 486 *really* that poor a design? There was some hemming and hawing and mumbling about a "different market focus"... and a few snickers around the room. Now Intel is successful and you can't argue with success. And they spend scrillions on R&D and guess where it's coming from- the X86 family. Actually I have no problem with that. Or else we might all be learning Japanese someday to figure out how to read the data sheets for our FPUs :-) OTHO, Intel has been paying back FPU development costs for a *long* time - 10 years? Motorola has been selling FPUs around the $1-200 for a long time and I doubt they're losing money doing it. Cyrix, IIT, etc., saw a good thing and decided to try and cash in on it. They knew it wouldn't last forever. At the Intel pony show, I *did* miss one good shot. The speaker was soliciting replies from the audience on things they looked for when selecting a CPU for a high-performance embedded systems application. The obvious answer somehow escaped me: "Second source from AMD" :-) -- Ray Berry kb7ht uucp: ...sumax!ole!ray CIS: 73407,3152 /* "inquire within" */
williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Williams) (06/27/91)
This week's Inforworld reports that Cyrix has slashed their math chip prices as well. I'm sure all of the other math chip cloners will quickly follow suit. Tempting as it is to rush out and get one of the new, cheap Intel chips, I think I'll wait a month or so until the street prices stabilize. Jim Spoken: Jim Williams Domain: williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov Phone: +1 301 286-1131 UUCP: uunet!mimsy!williams USPS: NASA/GSFC, Code 933, Greenbelt, MD 20771 Motto: There is no 'd' in "kluge"! It rhymes with "huge", not "sludge".
amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen) (06/27/91)
In allred@bongo.cc.utexas.edu (Kevin L. Allred) writes: >In routh@eltanin.rtp.semi.harris.com (Kevin Routh x622) writes: >>? pricing for all speed grades of the 387 was consolidated at $299." >>I am also happy because...many more 386 owners can afford a math chip. >Intel bashing aside, the point really is that this is cutthroat >capitalism at work,... Intel was finally feeling the >competition from the new 387 compatible manufactures (CYRIX, ITT, SDC, >and now AMD). ...cut their price in response to Intel's cut. The new >...price on the chip... 16 MHz 387sx compatible, was $119. If you stop to realize that the classic cost curve for this type of product is downward sloping over time, and the the prices have been slowly coming down even without the extra competition. Not all of the savings are due to competition. I remember les than 4 years ago when 4.77 Mhz 8087's were well over $200, and now they are found for $50 or so. The intereting thing is that the 8088 prices have dropped from about $16 to $5 over the same time. Given the stability of high proces for quantity 1 30386 chips I wonder if or when these will really tumble to a price where they are disposable.... al -- Al. Michielsen, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University InterNet: amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu amichiel@sunrise.acs.syr.edu Bitnet: AMICHIEL@SUNRISE
brand@wet.UUCP (Graham Brand) (06/28/91)
Can anyone recommend a cheap source for these chips (80387x25MHz) which takes advantage of the fall in prioces? -Graham Brand
knudsen@cbnewsd.att.com (michael.j.knudsen) (06/29/91)
No bashing, just a question: Now, what would be a good price to add an 80287 math chip to an 8 MHz (yes, slow) AT clone? Please reply by email or followup, thanks. -- "What America needs is A Thousand Points When Lit..." knudsen@ihlpl.att.com