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In case you missed it, Sun Microsystems agreed to put Intel processors into some of its servers,
while Intel will help promote Sun's version of Solaris for servers
running x86 chips. Sun has previously used Intel chips, but it phased
them out.
perspective I've been racking my brain, but I still can't find a conspiracy at the heart of the Sun-Intel alliance.
In case you missed it, Sun Microsystems agreed to put Intel processors into some of its servers,
while Intel will help promote Sun's version of Solaris for servers
running x86 chips. Sun has previously used Intel chips, but it phased
them out.
When a big story strikes, it's our job in the reporting ranks to flesh
out some sort of all-encompassing strategy--especially when two large,
often antagonistic companies suddenly join hands and frolic to "So
long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye" in front of their investors
and competitors.
Does Sun need Intel to alleviate supply concerns with Advanced Micro
Devices or give it credibility with overseas banking clients? Is the
real story here IBM? Does it open the door to an Intel-Sun-Apple launch into the home and IPTV? Haven't the two companies shared a long, antagonistic history?
And what on Earth are NetBeans?
In a way, playing the board game Risk as a kid prepared
me for writing those kinds of stories. A single move on the board can
upend a swarm of alliances and strategies. But the problem with
conspiracy theories is the same problem with Risk. There are
always a few factors that get a disproportionate amount of influence.
Think about it: the goal in Risk is to take over the world. So how come
the best way to win is to control New Guinea and Peru?
The reality of the Sun-Intel alliance is fairly simple.
The reality of the Sun-Intel alliance is fairly simple. Between 2003 and a good portion of 2006, AMD had a better server chip. Corporate customers wanted it, so Sun adopted it. Last year, Intel upped AMD with Woodcrest. It can now offer pretty good chip pricing and supplies because it got to 65-nanometer manufacturing a year ahead of AMD, and it has more factories.
Corporate customers have been adopting Sun's version of Solaris for x86 servers, so Intel will help promote it to see if it can help displace more of those lingering RISC-Unix boxes.
Performance, price and volume--that's pretty much the story.
While that sounds dull on the surface, it's actually a somewhat
significant milestone. Sun is bringing Intel chips back into its fold
because of convenience. That's a sign that the microprocessor market
has matured. Server makers can choose AMD or Intel. AMD isn't fading away or stumbling drastically, something that has occurred in the past.
Then again, AMD has to deliver on performance, and that could be
problematic as time goes on. AMD is a much smaller company than Intel
and has many fewer engineers. Most of the time, more is better. Thus, AMD may find the gains it has made over the past three years receding slightly with each generation of chips.
More doesn't always equal better. AMD's credibility with corporate buyers began because it came out with a better chip, Opteron, while Intel continued to fumble with the Pentium 4.
But you can't really count on that happening again soon: it was an
unusual combination of circumstances that may not occur again. Of
course, Intel likely will continue to experience erosion in chip prices.
The newfound dullness at Sun, meanwhile, is significant as well. In
years past, Sun events weren't complete without a) a cartload of
unintelligible code names and 2) lots of bombast. Sun would declare
that it's superior to everyone else, that its competitors were engaged
in a plot to take over the world, and that if you didn't understand it,
you had the mental capacity of a gibbon.
The high point for that type of announcement came two years ago when then-CEO Scott McNealy talked about the battle
of "humankind versus IBM Global Services, and we are kind of the leader
of mankind in this aspect." IBM Global Services? It just seemed like
such a B-league evil. If Spider-Man had to face it, he'd probably
outsource.
By contrast, Sun's current CEO, Jonathan Schwartz, said he simply went out to dinner with his counterpart at Intel, Paul Otellini, and they hashed out their differences.
Read the original article: http://news.com.com/Why+Sun+chose+Intel+over+AMD/2010-1006_3-6152372.html?tag=nefd.top
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