[ The PC Guide | Articles and Editorials | Industry Update: June 2000 ]

Miscellaneous

A very well connected source has informed me that Dell has confirmed commitments to a contractor for a motherboard that supports the Duron processor. The numbers spoken of previously were 200,000 units for Q3. If this is true, it would be quite a blow for Intel and quite a shot in the arm for AMD. Unfortunately for most of us, it will likely be at least several weeks before there can be any confirmation of this rumor.

Other reports have indicated that Apple is producing their new IMAC models, and are anticipating strong demand. In addition, contractors for both Dell and Intel have reported an increase in orders for Q3. Though there has been some talk of a slowdown in PC sales during the past few months, these sources seem to indicate that there should be a rebound in Q3, though this may simply be the result of some ambitious forecasting.

Demand for cell phones, pagers, PDAs and the like have been putting strains on the PC OEMs during the past several months because they all use the same suppliers for capacitors, resistors, etc. Availability seems to have improved this past month, however it may only be due to 'seasonal' slowdowns rather than any real increase in production. It will be quite interesting to see what happens mid-Q3 when demand for all of these products is expected to increase by 20% or more.

Next: Industry Update: May 2000

Home  -  Search  -  Topics  -  Up