Vendors Looking At Alpha Again

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June 20, 1998 (6:56 AM EDT)

By Andy Patrizio,

With the ultra-fast 64-bit Alpha processor now in the hands of Compaq, the chip may finally live up to the potential it offers as a Windows NT platform.

This past week, Samsung Electronics announced the formation of a subsidiary -- Alpha Processor -- to sell Alpha hardware. And IBM is reportedly in negotiations to license Alpha hardware for its own use.

With Intel's 64-bit Merced delayed by six months -- and the possibility it could be delayed again -- this could be Alpha's chance to break out, said one analyst.

"I think companies that might have been worried about buying an Alpha-based server from DEC [Digital Equipment] might feel more secure buying an Alpha-based server from Compaq," said Nathan Brookwood, microprocessor analyst for Dataquest, in San Jose, Calif. "I could see other PC vendors who don't have a good server story latching onto this and doing Alpha server stories, too."

But Linley Gwennap, editor and publisher of The Microprocessor Report, said Merced has the industry sewn up.

"If you look across the high-end system vendors, virtually all have committed to Merced," he said. "I don't expect any of them to change their minds because of the delay. They will use whatever is available until Merced is ready."

Dataquest said Compaq (company profile), based in Houston, will continue to pursue Alpha as a high-end server, primarily offering Windows NT, but also Digital's (company profile) Unix and OpenVMS, and Compaq should have an easier time selling it. "The questions that surrounded DEC's ability to popularize Alpha don't apply to Compaq," he said. "So in a sense, the Compaq acquisition of DEC gives Alpha its biggest design win ever."

Compaq has said throughout the acquisition it would remain committed to Alpha, but there have been complaints from Alpha customers support is drying up. Gwennap predicts Compaq will not make a massive push for Alpha nor outright abandon it, but simply continue on its course. "The best they've said is they will sustain the current Alpha products for any length of time," he said.

Both agree for Alpha to stay competitive it must stay far ahead of anything Sant Clara, Calif.-based Intel (company profile) produces in performance. "The day Alpha is not meaningfully faster than an x86 is the day no one in their right mind would go out and start a new product on it," said Brookwood.