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EU mulls €3bn fine for Google
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/05/16/ec_mulls_3bn_google_fine/
The Sunday Telegraph reports that the Commission is considering a fine “in the region of €3bn” for Google’s anti-competitive search practices - or around half of Google’s European income.
Say, that is a nice business you have there. Shame if something
happened to it...
The EU model for success in tech seems to be extorting U.S. tech
giants for billions. Got to pay for all those new citizens somehow I
guess.
I sure hope it is the latter. Buying MT would cost too much and
Intel would be no further to a winning business model. Big payout
for continued bleeding.
OTOH, getting some pocket change for the gang that couldn't shoot
straight would be a good send off and avoid the costs of shutting
them down.
No, you still have to use MPI, etc. to access the parallelism of KNL. You're still using standard(ish) tools/libraries to do it, but "old" code doesn't just convert automatically to massively parallel.
Many big customers are already running their MPI based (or whatever)
parallel codes on Xeon clusters.
Going to KNL means using a different version of the threading and
synchronization libraries and a bit of fine tuning. That is way less
effort and than rewriting to CUDA and verifying the code still works.
How about first class citizen support for its iGPUs under Linux
and working with Nvidia, AMD, Valve, game engine developers etc
to enhance game development infrastructure for Linux. I think poor
gaming support is a significant factor holding back the Linux PC.
Given recent MS efforts to lock down Win10 to aid its apps store
should scare game developers into thinking beyond DX and Windows.
Intel can not upset their Wintel golden goose, no matter how many other golden geese are out there, without fundamentally changing their nature to the very core.
This may not be the issue you think it is.
Microsoft has been chasing the goose while wildly swinging an axe for
a few years now and has already drawn blood.
Intel should have started preparing for a post Windows world with the
Win8 debacle.
Care to guess how many billions ARMH's various minions have blown trying
to break into the server market?
It takes money - lots and lots of it to conduct a hostile grab at another tech
company's rice bowl. Most attempts are unsuccessful and even those that
succeed may take more than a decade to pay back the up front cash if ever.
If the attempt succeeds then the company's retired execs were geniuses.
If the attempt fails then the company's current execs are idiots .
90% of that for consumers is going to run on Android or Iphone.
Really? I am not aware of any ability to route 120 and 240 VAC through a
smart phone. Perhaps other hardware may be involved in smartening homes.
Want a 'smart home'? There's a store for that
Its still a bunch of incompatible crap with dismal standards and security.
The first adopters will probably find themselves in a "haunted" house
with trolls in eastern Europe messing around with their thermostat and
lights for lolz.
Here is a place Intel should be able to establish a standard for both
interoperability and decent security. If it had any leadership driving
it to do that...
Apple has been really late refreshing most of its Mac models and a lot
of people are probably holding off purchases. IMO this is a case of self
inflicted wound for Apple.
Hmmm, 4% is in the deadwood clearance zone. It is unlikely that
the number of design teams/projects have been cut. Good.
I would imagine most of the lay-offs will be related to variable
costs - packaging, testing, inventory, shipping etc. Fewer chips
shipped, fewer people needed.
IBM reports Q1
http://www.ibm.com/investor/att/pdf/IBM-1Q16-Earnings-Press-Release.pdf
- overall down 5% YoY
- hardware sales down 21.8% YoY
I guess Google is still buying mostly Xeons.
So this is a coincidence?
Show on the graph the point where Microsoft decided to break backward
compatibility of the Windows UI for Win8 in order to chase phones and
tablets with an one size fits all mentality.
Even better, plot Mac sales vs phones.
Given that the world economy is in the toilet why should intel not slow down their development pace until things pick up again.
Historically Intel gained on competitors because it didn't reduce R&D
during downturns and had great new products and processes for when the
economy and demand turned around.
Intel has competitiveness problems with itself.
Upgrades are not happening and the PC client is falling off a cliff.
If Intel client silicon was instantly 20% faster for all performance
metrics across all price points what effect do you think that would
have on PC sales?
If Intel client silicon was instantly 20% lower power at the same
performances across all price points what effect do you think that
would have on PC sales?
There is little Intel can do to drive PC sales in the short term. There
is somewhat of a problem of performance satiation on the hardware
side but far more importantly platform turmoil on the software side.
I have been pushing off buying a laptop for more than a year now
because I am not happy about having to choose between Win10, Mac,
or some flavour of Linux. I chase the decision around and around
and then put it out of my mind for another month or two because my
Win7 boxes at home are still awesome and work just like my Win7
PC at the office. I can't fault Intel for this sad state of PCs but I do
extend the middle finger on both hands to Microsoft for forcing me
into a Hobson's choice.
We have to give the new guy some time to clean house now.
It is one thing to fix 'competitiveness gaps' in mobile. It is hard for it to
go anywhere but up. The guy is a phone chip guy so go for it.
But this guy knows noting about x86, PCs, or servers. Intel has absolutely
no competitiveness problems there. He could only do harm IMO if he doesn't
leave that stuff well enough alone. That is my huge fear for INTC, he f***s
with the cash cows.
(Some Intel businesses, notably its thriving data center segment, are not under Renduchintala's direct purview.)
A small ray of light through darkening clouds.
However server products use cores developed by the client group. A charlie
foxtrot on the client side will eventually seep over to the server side.
I think we may be in for a slightly positive surprise for Q1 and/or strong product announcements.
I sure hope so. I want to sell off 40% of my INTC at the next good
opportunity just because of the turmoil and my doubts about BK.
Intel CEO's Qualcomm Recruit Causes Upheaval in Senior Ranks
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-11/intel-ceo-s-qualcomm-recruit-causes-upheaval-in-senior-ranks?cmpid=yhoo.headline
Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich broke with decades of company history last year by making an outsider, Murthy Renduchintala of rival Qualcomm Inc., his No. 2.
Renduchintala brought a record of success in mobile-phone chips, a market Intel has yet to crack. The appointment also fueled an exodus of some of the senior talent that helped make Intel the envy of the $300 billion chipmaking industry, and it left analysts fretting that more upheaval is on the way.
I hope this QCOM guy is smart enough to realize he knows f*** all about PCs
and servers and lets the pros continue to do their jobs. He was brought in to
fix the mobile development group, not mess with the money machines. If I see
clear signs otherwise I'll 100% dump INTC in a heartbeat.
Of course he has to say that or the leverage doesn't work, duh!
Vs. OpenPOWER and ARM, Intel has nobody they can put the screws to. Literally zero leverage.
Yet Intel gains more and more server market share with every passing year.
Last quarter Intel increased sales 8% even while ARM sales dropped
according to IDC.
I guess with zero leverage it is clear to all but delusional bashers
that Intel just sells the very best products.
IBM might be dressing something up for sale.
That is an interesting thought.
Apple has a MORP* operation, maybe Google might want its own MORP
to keep up with the Cooks. Google could certainly afford a trophy chip
operation more than IBM can based on its AIX server business. Now that
IBM is fabless it is a cleaner partitioning to send the big blue RISC folks
packing. With the Unix server market sinking like a lead baloon it is just
a matter of time before IBM has to do something drastic anyways.
*MORP - My Own RISC Processor - disparaging term from Intel in the mid
eighties to describe the multitude of RISC competitors that popped up.
Probably not very much.
The economics of boutique server chips like Power are not good and only
getting worse every passing year. Somebody is throwing money into this
Power-Google effort with little realistic expectation of getting more back
out (at least from the viewpoint of a cheaper or better box).
Either IBM is subsidizing this effort in order to get good PR exposure
from being associated with Google or Google is subsidizing this effort
in order to generate leverage against Intel in negotiating Xeon prices.
IBM and the OpenPower consortium efforts remind me of this:
http://alasir.com/articles/alpha_history/press/api_start.html
NEW YORK, June 16, 1998 -- The formation of Alpha Processor, Inc. (API) as an
independent company dedicated to the marketing and technical support of the
Alpha microprocessor architecture, was announced here by Samsung Electronics
Co., Ltd., Compaq Computer Corp. and Microsoft Corp. announced their full
support for the mission and strategy of the new company.
The new company, dedicated to the promotion and development of the Alpha
architecture, assures Alpha's continuing success in the Windows NT market.
Compaq's commitment to build Alpha-based systems, and Microsoft's plans to
provide complete operating system and development support for Alpha at parity
with any other microprocessor provides a strong foundation for the company's
success.
Boston-based Alpha Processor, Inc., a subsidiary of SEC, recruited experienced
talent from Samsung, Digital Semiconductor and other firms. The venture is a
fabless U.S. startup with the charter of driving the Alpha processor into the
64-bit Windows NT market.
"Although a new company, Alpha Processor, Inc. benefits from world-class
technology, performance leadership and volume manufacturing and distribution
resources," said Dr. Daeje Chin, executive vice president and CEO of Samsung
Electronics' System LSI Group and API's new CEO. "Alpha is the only commercially
available processor capable of breaking the one GigaHertz barrier. Our
relationship with Compaq ensures expertise in volume channel marketing; through
Microsoft, we can deliver Windows NT compatibility. Together we will drive the
high-volume enterprise market."
How well did that work for all concerned?
Want a couple of more examples?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Computing_Environment
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIM_alliance
However the Xeon dominance is much greater than implied by the IDC link, since a big chunk of Xeon chips are sold directly
The IDC numbers said x86 server revenue increased by 8% YoY in Q4.
Intel said its data center group revenue was up 5% YoY in Q4
Taking in combination this suggests that Intel's "hidden from IDC" direct
sales are becoming a smaller proportion of sales, or their ASP is dropping
relative to overall sales ASP, or overall ASP is dropping. The last option is
unlikely because IDC says x86 server ASP went up 4% during this period.
What is not indicated is that Intel's server sales are significantly better
than IDC numbers suggest due to under the radar sales.
Smart on Google's part to have alternative platforms in house.
Walk your Intel rep by them before negotiating your next huge
Xeon buy.
The strategy is nearly as old as I am.
The real question is how long can token sales keep IBM in the
processor business. Economies of scale for RISC in servers
keeps getting worse every passing year while costs escalate.
It disappates freaking 300W LOL.
That is System z processor territory.
They might as well go whole hog z and refrigerate the device to 14 deg C in
normal operation with emergency fail over to air cooled operation at lower
frequency.
BK has a reality show now
The Gong Show?
How would Intel do something similar?
Forego pushing performance and features of 25 to 50+ Watt PC silicon and
instead go all in on wimpy low frequency cores for 2.5 to 5+ Watt silicon for
hand held devices. I.e. screwing over a huge loyal customer base to chase
markets it doesn't understand well and that don't need it.
I sure hope that Intel isn't pulling a Microsoft (undercutting a huge and
loyal customer base in hopes of chasing the new shiny) here.
Don't know much about the other guy but Kirk always seemed like a pretty
competent fellow based on interviews and IDF talks.
My trigger finger on dumping INTC seems to get itchier with every bit of
news that comes out lately.
BTW, this move also helps along that crucial strategy of workforce diversity. :-/
Power revenue was up for every quarter of 2015, with 8% revenue growth (in constant currency) in Q4.
http://www.ibm.com/investor/att/pdf/IBM-4Q15-Earnings-Press-Release.pdf
"Revenues from Power Systems were up 4 percent compared with
the 2014 period (up 8 percent adjusting for currency)"
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41076116
"Demand for x86 servers improved in 4Q15 with revenues increasing 8.0% year over year"
"Non-x86 servers experienced a revenue decline of -5.4% year over year"
"ARM server sales fell in 4Q15 compared to the same time in 2014"
Power is better off than other RISCs but is still falling behind x86.
BTW, still LOL at the RISC great white hope ARM every time I see this
IDC press release.
ARM’s value proposition has been consistent, in that it offers a lower price and power consumption vs Intel server chips.
Can anyone point to any third party evidence of this on a apples to apples
comparison basis?
I have seen no evidence of this outside ARMH marketing slides.
Pumping diversity instead of good business execution pays handsomely
http://www.wsj.com/articles/intel-ceo-krzanichs-compensation-rose-31-in-2015-1459770660?mod=yahoo_hs
Intel Corp. said the value of Chief Executive Brian Krzanich’s total compensation climbed 31% in 2015, as the chip maker works to diversify its business amid sluggish demand in the personal computer market.
WTF? What has this SJW wannabe flake done for Intel's *business*?
I will be looking for good opportunities to further reduce my INTC
holdings over the coming year.
Hypothesis-1: Improved 14nm yields
Hypothesis-2: Low demand
#3 - distributors clearing inventory ahead of intro of new SKUs/products.
The HPC variant will make chips that run 10-15% faster than those made in the mobile process, enabling clock trees optimized to hit 4 GHz data rates.
So the fast 7 nm process from TSMC will let the great unwashed achieve what Intel
did in Willamette with a 180 nm planar, non-hk/mg, aluminum interconnect process
a long time ago. Wow!
Qualcomm will not only provide funds to support ARM architecture server chip R&D, but will also license its server technologies to the joint venture.
I am more interested in the magnitude of financial and material support
ARM and its silicon partners with server dreams are providing to ISVs.
The lineup will feature several SKUs including the flagship Core i7-6950X which will feature a total of 10 cores.
LOL, so I guess the crazies will have a choice of 10 Broadwell cores
in Q2 or 8 Zen cores some time well beyond that. Anyone want to bet
that a Zen core gets within 80% of the frequency and IPC of Broadwell?
Don't you think there should be some accountability? Shouldn't there be some rules here? If a reviewer is chronically and egregiously wrong in facts used to attack the company, shouldn't he be counterattacked?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
A pissant reviewer seen by maybe thousands is a grain of sand on a wind
swept beach. The fact that this grain of sand seems to always get blown
into your particular eye is neither here nor there.
If Intel ever did anything as stupid as sue this grain of sand it would give
it a public stage and attention a thousand times greater than if it stripped
naked in Times Square and set itself on fire. This attention would give this
grain of sand's attacks a thousand times more weight because it got mighty
Intel upset about it enough to sue.
In the greater scheme of things even this post is more attention that the
grain of sand in question deserves.
Looking across the biz news today it looks like a bunch of "analysts" are
trying to talk down INTC ahead of earnings. Funny how they all got the
same notion at the same time.
Pick the most qualified and experienced person for the job.
Interposing other considerations for "diversity" means the job is being
done less well than it could be. That's ok in the civil service because
the work is rote, standards are low and all but the biggest failures are
absorbed silently within the system. In business, especially tech, that
could mean the difference between success and failure, between being
a leader and an also-ran.
Give it a break. Burnish your SJW cred somewhere else.