What IBM's x86 exit may mean for rivals

By Patrick Thibodeau in Computer World

Computerworld - IBM's reported interest in selling parts of its x86 server business to Lenovo may bring major changes to the global market.

IBM is the third-largest seller of x86 servers by factory revenue, with 15.7% of the global market in 2012, according to IDC. That represents $5.6 billion for a company that earned $104.5 billion in revenue last year.

IBM's share of the x86 server segment has declined over the last several years. In 2010, it had 17.4% of the market and $5.5 billion in revenue.

By divesting at least part of its x86 server line, IBM gains additional investment dollars that it can spend on its higher margin efforts, especially its analytics and business intelligence, putting more pressure on rivals in these areas.

Lenovo, which is on its way to becoming the world's top PC vendor, may gain more than an x86 server line. It may also get, as part of any deal, IBM executive talent and capability to reach North American customers served today by Hewlett-Packard and Dell, said Richard Fichera, an analyst at Forrester.

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AMD Denies Building Chips at IBM's Factories.

AMD Denies Building Chips at IBM's Factories.
Advanced Micro Devices denied on Tuesday that IBM had started to make chips on contract basis for the company. AMD said that IBM only provided consulting services to Globalfoundries, contract maker of AMD's microprocessors, so that to enable it to boost yields of chips produced using 32nm silicon-on-insulator process technology.
"IBM has given some consulting support to GF, as far as I know they are not producing chips for us," a spokesperson for AMD told X-bit labs.
Since IBM, Globalfoundries, Samsung Electronics and STMicroelectronics are jointly develop various semiconductor process technologies, they usually unify manufacturing processes and can help each other to build chips if needed. For example, Globalfoundries' fab 8 in Saratoga, New York, and IBM's facility in East Fishkill, New York, at present can produce the same chips. Nonetheless, this is not a case when it comes to IBM and AMD's central processing units and accelerated processing units as they are exclusively made at Globalfoundries.
More @ X-bit Labs

IBM: Tiny carbon nanotube transistor outshines silicon | Cutting Edge - CNET News

IBM: Tiny carbon nanotube transistor outshines silicon | Cutting Edge - CNET News:

In a research paper published this month in Nano Letters, IBM researchers found that carbon nanotube transistors smaller than 10 nanometers outperformed silicon devices. These transistors also operate at very low voltage, which means they promise processors that operate with low power consumption.

Drawing of components in a carbon nanotube transistor.

(Credit: IBM)

The experiments researchers performed were designed to test the theoretic performance of carbon nanotube transistors, rather than develop new manufacturing processes. But the finding could be significant in the ongoing pursuit of smaller transistors for more computing power.

Carbon nanotubes are hollow cylinder shaped structures made of connected carbon atoms that have been touted for years as a potential semiconductor material. Producing carbon nanotubes at scale is one technical challenge to developing computing devices with them. The overwhelming weight of the semiconductor industry infrastructure is based on silicon as well, making introduction of new materials difficult.

More @ CNET

HP shift on PCs could boost rivals - Computerworld

HP shift on PCs could boost rivals - Computerworld

Computerworld - With Hewlett-Packard (HP) likely spinning off its PC manufacturing business, other major vendors will almost certainly be looking for a way to get a bigger piece of the hardware pie.

HP announced on Thursday that, among other moves, it is may sell its PC manufacturing business. That news rocked the hardware industry since HP is by far the dominant PC maker in the world.

So while HP decides just what to do, PC makers like Dell, Acer and Lenovo should be plotting their next move, say industry analysts.

Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group, said HP's shift could easily be great news for other major vendors who want to take advantage of it. After all, companies and consumers may not be so quick to buy HP desktops or laptops if they feel the company or products are in flux.

That could mean more business for the other top vendors.

"Whoever takes over HP's PC business could, if it is successful, emerge in 18 months as very powerful. But, for those 18 months, the others will be able to gain share at HP's cost," said Enderle. "The leader is weakened until the divestiture stabilizes, and there is no certainty it will be successful. This will focus the others on HP's share."

All of these changes come just as the PC market isshifting into a slower pace.

More @ Computer World

Japan answers China's supercomputing surge - Computerworld

Japan answers China's supercomputing surge - Computerworld

Computerworld - A new supercomputer from Japan whose performance passed the 8 petaflop milestone ended China's brief period atop the list of the world's fastest supercomputers.

The Japanese system also set another all-time Top 500 record -- a 10 megawatt power rating while running the Linpack test used to determine system performance. Despite the significant power consumption, the K Computer achieved "extraordinarily high computing efficiency," said RIKEN and Fujitsu, in a statement.

The new Top 500 leader, the K Computer housed at the Riken Advanced Institute for Computational Science in Kobe, Japan, runs 68,544, eight-core Sparc chips made by Japan-based Fujitsu. The system is expected to eventually run some 80,000 of the Sparc processors.

China's move to head the the Top500.org list late last year underscored the continuing global competition to build the world's most powerful computer systems.

The Chinese Tianhe-1A supercomputer, took the number one position last November with a performance of 2.57 petaflops.

In speeches after that, President Barack Obamareferenced China's accomplishment.

Supercomputer developers are keenly aware that they will need huge gains in power efficiency to reach supercomputing's next big goal -- building an exascale class system (1,000 time more powerful than a petascale system) by 2018.

For more: Computer World

Gamasutra - News - Wii U Will Have AMD Radeon HD, IBM Power Microprocessors, And 25 GB Discs

Gamasutra - News - Wii U Will Have AMD Radeon HD, IBM Power Microprocessors, And 25 GB Discs

Along with its 6.2" touchscreen controller, the Wii U will feature a custom HD graphics processor from AMD, Power-based microprocessors from IBM, and 25 GB game discs. Wii U's discs, which are a proprietary format and not Blu-Ray as was rumored prior to yesterday's system reveal, is significantly larger than the original Wii's 4.7/8.54 GB discs, according toNintendo designer Katsuya Eguchi in an interview with Kotaku. IBM says its will produce millions of its microprocessors for Wii U. The custom-designed chips feature its IBM Silicon on Insulator technology at 45 nanometer and are based on the company's open, scalable Power Architecture base.