VIA Sales Up 27 Percent In First Quarter

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May 05, 1999 (2:59 PM EDT)

By Staff,

VIA Technologies reported net income of $10 million in the first quarter ended March 31, up from $9.4 million for the similar period a year ago.

Sales for the quarter totaled $52.4 million, up 27 percent from $38.8 million for the same three months of 1998.

Sales for the core-logic chip set maker, until now, have predominately been for Advanced Micro Devices' microprocessors for the sub-$1,000 PC market. The Taiwanese company is slated soon to enter the market with its first chip set for Intel's Pentium and Celeron processors after getting a license from Intel last year. Future sales can be significantly boosted, depending on how fast VIA can ramp up production of chip sets for the Intel processors.

As previously reported, VIA and Intel are currently locked ina dispute over the firm's use of its license to make chip sets for Pentium and Celeron. Sources believe Intel objects strongly to VIA's plans to make chip sets connecting the Intel processors to PC133 SDRAM memory. Intel reportedly doesn't want to see PC133 become established as a threat to its dictated Direct Rambus DRAM as the memory for next-generation microprocessors.

Intel last week first filed a lawsuit against VIA involving improper use of its license -- and then promptly withdrew the suit. An Intel spokesman said the suit was filed by mistake by the firm's outside counsel.

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