SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics is developing an Alpha microprocessor that will compete with the 64-bit processors of Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and feature a clock speed as high as 1.6 GHz.
Samsung will launch samples of a 1.4-to-1.6-GHz processor this year, Changkyu Hwang, vice president of Samsung Electronics, revealed during a Korean semiconductor industry strategy symposium. The announcement quells rumors that Samsung was withdrawing from the 64-bit CPU business because its efforts with the Alpha processor were trailing the respective efforts of Intel and AMD to commercialize 1-GHz processors.
"We are planning to launch chips with 0.13-micron process technology in the same period as the other competitors," said Hwang.
Intel and AMD have applied 0.18-micron process technology to newly launched 1-GHz chips. Samsung was planning to develop a 1-GHz device last year and to commercialize that part this spring.
"We intended to move up the plan for commercialization from Q2 to Q1," a Samsung spokesman said. "But it has been delayed for a secure database and verification of commercialization. We expect to mass produce in Q2 as the verification has been almost completed," he said.
"Our products are for servers, differing in design structure from the ones for general PCs from Intel and AMD," he added.
Exclusive to EE Times by Chom Dan Inc. (Seoul, South Korea).
