Replies to post #36461 on Intel Corp (INTC)

[Elmer Phud]

Klaus

Is product transition as well? :)

Certainly one implies the other, no?

Klaus, you seem like a reasonable guy and I think you've been forthright about your bias. Have you ever been involved in a product ramp? Do you think you can just call up the fab and tell them to switch 30,000 wafer starts over from product A to product B? Do you have enough mask sets in place? Do you think you can tell the build kit supplier to have an extra 30 million build kits ready because you changed your mind? If your product needs burnin do you think you can change the loading overnight? Do you have all the test capacity in place to test an extra 20-30 million units? The belief that someone the size of Intel can switch product lines over night is very short sighted.

[wbmw]

Re: The C2D [ramp] is the fastest in Intel's history.

>> Is product transition as well? :)

Yes. Take the case of the famous Northwood ramp (lauded by many as Intel's previous "fastest ramp ever"). Northwood first launched in January 2002. The crossover happened in about the 3rd quarter, though Intel continued making Willamette Celerons well into 2003.

Taking Intel's Core 2 ramp in contrast, the Xeon transition happened almost entirely last quarter, and the mobile cross-over happened last quarter as well. The desktop cross-over is scheduled in Q3, which is about the same time it took Northwood on the desktop. Although, the complete transition is likely to happen even faster, given the E4000, E2000, and Celeron 400 lines that will be ramping sharply in mid-year.