Transmeta should look at moving out of the laptop PCs into a less competitive market, despite finally easing production problems with its 5500 and 5800 processors, according to analyst firm IDC.
The U.S. chip designer said recently that three new laptops from Sony and Fujitsu, using the 5500 and 5800 chips, signaled the beginning of its recovery, but industry observers are more skeptical.
"They've still got a niche position, but it's really niche now," said Andy Brown, research manager for mobile communications with IDC. "They're going to find it really hard going from now on, especially with the industry consolidating. They might want to look at other areas, like embedded chips, where low power is a key play."
Sony recently launched a new PictureBook laptop, the PCG-C1MV, with a 733MHz version of the TM5800 chip. Fujitsu's new LifeBook P-2040 includes an 800MHz TM5800 chip, and the LifeBook P-1000 uses a 700MHz TM5500 chip. The chips--announced in June 2001, but delayed by production and design problems--are designed to address complaints that the company's original line of chips did not perform as well as advertised.
But in the meantime, Transmeta's lead over heavyweights like AMD and particularly Intel has become imperceptible. "When Transmeta came to market, they had a compelling offering backed with a lot of heavy marketing. But the other major chip manufacturers have stepped up their concentration on mobile computers now. They made the classic mistake of heavy marketing without the products and without the quality to back it up." Brown said.
Story
The U.S. chip designer said recently that three new laptops from Sony and Fujitsu, using the 5500 and 5800 chips, signaled the beginning of its recovery, but industry observers are more skeptical.
"They've still got a niche position, but it's really niche now," said Andy Brown, research manager for mobile communications with IDC. "They're going to find it really hard going from now on, especially with the industry consolidating. They might want to look at other areas, like embedded chips, where low power is a key play."
Sony recently launched a new PictureBook laptop, the PCG-C1MV, with a 733MHz version of the TM5800 chip. Fujitsu's new LifeBook P-2040 includes an 800MHz TM5800 chip, and the LifeBook P-1000 uses a 700MHz TM5500 chip. The chips--announced in June 2001, but delayed by production and design problems--are designed to address complaints that the company's original line of chips did not perform as well as advertised.
But in the meantime, Transmeta's lead over heavyweights like AMD and particularly Intel has become imperceptible. "When Transmeta came to market, they had a compelling offering backed with a lot of heavy marketing. But the other major chip manufacturers have stepped up their concentration on mobile computers now. They made the classic mistake of heavy marketing without the products and without the quality to back it up." Brown said.
Story
