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1993-05-27
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11KB
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225 lines
======================================================================
DEC ALPHA PC ANNOUNCEMENT SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ANNOUNCEMENT SUMMARY
On Tuesday, May 24, Digital Equipment Corporation announced its
150-MHz Alpha AXP-based personal computer for Windows NT, the DECpc
AXP 150, touting it as "the fastest PC in the world". The DECpc AXP
150 is designed for software developers and power users.
The DECpc AXP 150 comes in a minitower configuration--the same box
that is used for DEC's 486-based and Pentium-based PCs. It runs the
Windows NT operating system, which DEC preinstalls.
Digital has announced two configurations (detailed below):
* The base configuration is priced at $6,795; it's availability is
gated by the availability of Windows NT, which is scheduled to begin
shipping in June, but may be delayed until September.
* Available immediately, and priced at $9,995, is a larger
configuration that will ship with the Windows NT BETA 2.0 Release.
Digital is expected to offer Alpha and Pentium PCs at the same price,
allowing users to select between the two architectures depending on
whether they are looking for performance or application availability.
The Alpha PCs will be targeted at professional users and sold through
DEC's existing channels; the Pentium PCs will also be sold through
current channels, but may be sold in discount stores and other
indirect channels as well.
DEC's future plans are rumored to include:
* A 100-MHz Alpha PC with built-in PCI local-bus support, priced at
$4000 and available in Q393. The chip-level 32-bit Intel Peripheral
Connect Interface (PCI) bus comes with built-in Ethernet, SCSI and
graphics accelerator instead of an EISA bus, and enables Windows NT
applications running on DEC's Alpha and Pentium systems to
interoperate.
* 2GB 3.5" disks for the AXP 150 in Q493.
* Alpha laptops in Q1 94.
* A 200-MHz Alpha AXP PC in H1 94.
* A low-cost Alpha chip rumored to run between 66 and 75 MHz that will
allow Digital to make Alpha PC clients for less than $3,000. These
systems will also run DEC OSF/1 and OpenVMS in the future.
BOX DETAILS
The DECpc AXP 150 configurations at a glance (items denoted by an X
are included in the configuration):
Package: Minitower
Price: $6,795 $9,995
Availability: Q393 Today
Features:
Processor DECchip 21064 Alpha AXP 21064 21064
Clock rate 150 MHz 150MHz 150MHz
Cache
Internal 8Kb instruction and 8Kb data X X
External 512Kbytes X X
I/O Slots 6 EISA (4 available) X X
Bus speeds 33 Mbytes/sec X X
SCSI types SCSI II: Adaptec 1742B high X X
performance SCSI adapter
(requires EISA card and slot)
RAM 16 to 128MB, 36-bit SIMMs 16MB 32MB
Internal Disk 245MB, 426MB, or 1GB 3.5" hard disk 245MB 426MB
Drive Bays 5 expansion bays: X X
1 for removable media
3 for 5.25-inch removable media or
for 3.5-inch hard disks
1 for a 3.5-inch hard disk
Maximum Storage 4.2Gbytes internal; 29.4Gbytes total X X
Ports 2 asynchronous serial ports X X
1 parallel port X X
Monitor 1024x768 14", 16" or 19" SVGA color 14" 16"
Graphics Compaq Qvision SVGA adaptor with X
1024x768 resolution at 72 Hz (Opt.)
Keyboard 101-key IBM PS/2 compatible X X
keyboard and 3-button mouse
Backup media 2.88MB 3.5" Floppy X X
Network Ethernet Adapter card X
Optional hardware:
600 MB CD-ROM X
Tape drive
Sound board
Modem
Printers
Operating System Microsoft Windows NT Final Beta
License & X X
Documentation
Warranty 1-year on-site warranty X X
ANALYSIS
Announcement Strengths
======================
+ Excellent performance and price/performance
+ Expandability
Announcement Weaknesses
=======================
-- Digital is in Turmoil and their Market Position is Weak --
Digital is a company fighting for survival, throwing all its resources
at Alpha in a desperate attempt to gain back its lost market share.
Digital's market position is expected to remain shaky through at
least 1994, due to management changes and ongoing restructuring, and
its heavy reliance on the acceptance of OSF/1, Windows NT and Alpha.
On March 29, 1993, Business Week reported that so far "Digital has
signed few big buyers". And industry analysts say there is lots of
confusion in the field among Digital's sales reps, indirect channels,
and customers.
-- Mission-critical Applications Not Yet Available in Quantity --
Analysts agree that one of the primary keys to Digital's success is
getting applications onto Alpha quickly; this is as true for PCs as it
is for workstations. UNIX is the preferred corporate operating
environment with a wealth of mission-critical engineering and
scientific applications. Today there are only 275 Windows NT
applications that run on the Alpha AXP platform, most of which will be
available within the next three months. Using SoftPC emulation, many
16-bit DOS and Windows applications will run on Windows NT, but they
cannot interoperate. Applications written for Intel platforms running
Windows NT need to be recompiled and relinked--using Microsoft C/C++,
the ONLY NT compiler that generates Alpha code--to run on Alpha.
DEC's incomplete development environment for Alpha systems running
Windows NT makes development difficult for ISVs, and deters them from
developing for Alpha. So application availability will continue to be
a major weak spot for Digital. HP has over 5,000 technical and
commercial applications available on the HP 9000 family; 3,200 of them
run on the Series 700.
-- New, Unproven Alpha Hardware and Software --
Alpha is a brand new architecture, with all the bugs that accompany
any new architecture. PA-RISC is a robust, state-of-the-art
architecture; the 7 in PA 7100 stands for 7th generation PA-RISC!
Windows NT is also new; HP-UX is a mature and stable OS.
Alpha's performance depends heavily on compiler performance, and
the compiler performance for Windows NT on Alpha is still unproven.
HP is strong in compiler technology. We have been increasing PA-RISC
performance by 60% each year, and we are well-poised to handle
compute-intensive applications.
The 150-MHz Alpha chip sounds more powerful than it is. Alpha's clock
speeds often do not translate into real-life application performance.
Digital talks a lot about Alpha's full 64-bit architecture, but there
is little advantage to it today; analysts agree that broad acceptance
of 64-bit standards is years away and a broad base of 64-bit
compatible applications is not expected until the end of the decade.
Neither Windows NT, a 32-bit OS, nor the applications available for
the AXP 150 make use of the 64-bit Alpha architecture. Today, PA-RISC
provides 64-bit segmented addressing to meet customers current 64-bit
addressing needs. The first enhanced PA-RISC full 64-bit systems will
appear at the middle of the decade, well before 64-bit applications
are available and 64-bit computing becomes a broad market requirement.
-- Weak, Confused strategy --
Digital has a confusing strategy. On the software side, they have
continued to state that OpenVMS, OSF/1 and Windows NT would be
available across Alpha systems, but the AXP 150 only supports Windows
NT. And Windows NT is a 32-bit operating system running on Alpha's
64-bit hardware; there's no advantage to that. On the hardware side,
Digital will offer both Alpha and Pentium-based PCs. Their current
positioning on when to buy one versus the other is to buy an Alpha PC
for performance and a Pentium PC for applications; who needs
performance without applications!
HP has a clear strategy with HP-UX and PA-RISC. HP-UX is a mature,
robust, proven operating environment, with the functionality required
in a real-life working environment. For customers who want to
implement standards, HP-UX is an excellent choice: all the OSF DCE and
DME elements are implemented on the HP platform today, as are the
proposed COSE features. PA-RISC is a mature, robust, proven RISC
architecture, with all the functionality required today and plans to
continue to enhance that for the future.
-- Poor upgradability story for DEC Intel-based PC customers --
In spite of the fact that the DECpc AXP 150 is in the same minitower
package as DEC's 486-based and Pentium-based PCs, the Alpha-based CPU
board and Intel-based CPU board cannot be swapped. Customers using DEC
Intel-based PCs can't just call on their Digital sales rep, dealer or
retailer to obtain an upgrade--for their existing DECpc systems--to
the Alpha CPU. They must buy a new system. HP has an excellent
investment protection program on the HP9000; whenever possible, we
provide upgrade paths to allow our users to upgrade from generation to
generation of our PA-RISC-based systems.
IN SUMMARY
* Digital is investing heavily in unproven technologies: Alpha is a
new, unproven architecture; Windows NT is a new, unproven operating
system. Digital is a company in a state of turmoil and change.
* Digital is focusing all its resources on performance, rather than
taking a more thorough approach that would ensure delivery of a
complete high-quality well-designed system. Their lack of an
upgrade path to the Alpha PC and their confusing software and
hardware strategies are evidence of this.
* Alpha still offers few mission-critical applications.
* HP is coming off the heals of our best quarter ever. Computer
sales are strong and growing stronger worldwide. HP is today and
will continue to be the #1 RISC vendor.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Author: Shari Zedeck, WSG Outbound Marketing