SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Via Technologies Inc. here today disclosed its new microprocessor roadmap, including plans to develop an x86-based product with speeds up to 1.2-GHz.
The company plans to announce a 1.2-GHz processor by year's end, with shipments slated for late 2001 or early 2002, said Dan Havey, director of U.S. marketing for Via, based in Taipei, Taiwan.
The processor is not targeted for the high-end PC market, Havey said. For some time, Via has geared these chips for the low-end or value PC market, Havey said.
Via is looking for MPU opportunities in the U.S. market, but it is mainly focusing its efforts in several developing nations. "Via looks at China as being one of the largest markets for our processor lines," he said. Other key markets include Brazil, India, and Mexico.
The Taiwan company is also attempting to boost its processor business, which represents only about 5% of the company's overall sales. The bulk of Via's revenues are still derived from its PC chip set business. In total, Via projects its worldwide sales will grow from $1 billion in 2000 to $1.4 billion in 2001.
At present, Via's high-end processor line is a 733-MHz chip, which was rolled out in March (see March 21 story ). Dubbed Samuel 2, the chip will be offered at higher clock speeds later this year, including 750-, 800-, 850-, and 866-MHz.
By the third quarter of 2001, the company will announce a new processor line. Codenamed Ezra, the previously-announced chip will run at speeds up to 1-GHz. It has 128-Kbytes of Level 1 cache and 64-Kbytes of Level 2 cache.
It is based on a 0.13-micron process technology from its key foundry partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. March (see Dec. 12 story ).
Then, Via will announce the next-generation processor line. Targeted for clock speeds up to 1.2-GHz, the chip features 128-KB of Level 1 cache, 256-KB of Level 2 cache, and SSE multimedia instructions. The chip is also based on a 0.13-micron process from TSMC.
