The Computing Landscape Has Changed.

This article presents updates on the computer industry in the U.S. as of April 2004. The computer industry looked pretty predictable six months ago. Since then there have been surprises in processors and technology that have changed the whole playing field. These unexpected events involve almost all of the major players in processors and systems. The largest changes have happened to Intel, the world's biggest processor maker. Intel Corp. was set to bring its new 90 nanometer Prescott chips into the market and had updated Itanium chips in the queue. AMD's Opteron chips were then becoming a major challenge for Intel, as they were both powerful and offered 64-bit extensions while still running 32-bit code very well. When Intel's prime partner with Itanium, Hewlett-Packard, brought Opteron systems to market, Intel announced it would supply 64-bit capability when the customers needed it. While the personal computer segment is quite large, the most profitable part of the market is in server systems from four processor to supercomputer designs and clusters. The big three, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems, will keep things interesting in this arena. There are clear indications that all three companies have reacted to the change in the computing landscape in similar ways. Both IBM and Hewlett Packard have been consolidating their overlapping systems into a more cost effective set, eliminating redundant capabilities and reducing software duplication.