Presseveröffentlichung
ATI UNVEILS INTEGRATED GRAPHICS
AND CORE LOGIC PROGRAM AS LATEST DEVELOPMENT IN ITS LOW-END PC STRATEGY
ATI today unveiled the latest facet of its strategy for the low-end
PC and consumer appliance markets with the announcement of its integrated
graphics and core logic product program, featuring Shared Memory Architecture
(SMA). ATI's SMA products will join the company's low-cost graphics
accelerators and System-On-a-Chip (SOC) products to provide PC manufacturers
with the widest set of options to cost-effectively serve these market
segments. ATI is the world's largest supplier of graphics technology.
ATI's SMA
products integrate two key technology blocks, North Bridge and Graphics
Acceleration, to address the trend toward low-cost PCs. By providing
technology that previously required two discrete chips and following
a shared memory approach, ATI will offer PC OEMs dramatic cost reductions
for low-end systems. ATI's SMA products will interface with Pentium
II and Pentium III microprocessors as well as other processors.
To address
the current barriers to market acceptance of SMA products - substantial
performance penalties and a reduced feature set - ATI is committed to
providing SMA products that do not compromise features or performance
as a result of integration. Using ATI's proven modular architecture
approach, the company will add its best available graphics core and
will continue to provide technology that off-loads the demands on the
central processor, resulting in lower cost for PC OEM customers.
The SMA products
are designed for the low-end emerging ultra low-end PC market. ATI is
a leading supplier in all significant PC graphics categories, which
include: the high-end, served by graphics boards, the mid-range, served
by both boards and graphics chips, and the low-end, served by value
graphics chips and SMA products. ATI expects to continue to increase
market share by entering the ultra low-end where SMA products are expected
to flourish, and the consumer electronics appliance market, where SOC
products will dominate in the next two years. SMA products will be found
in sub $500 and sub $800 systems, which will represent about 9 per cent
of overall PC unit shipments this year, according to International Data
Corporation of Framingham, MA.
Graphics
Implementation By Market Segment
| Market
Segment |
Implementation |
| High end systems |
Graphics boards |
| Mid-range
systems |
Graphics boards,
graphics chips |
| Low-end systems |
Value graphics
chips, SMA products |
| Ultra low-end
systems |
SMA products |
| Consumer electronic
appliances |
SOC products |
ATI's unique business
model of providing both graphics boards and components makes it well-positioned
to thrive in the SMA market. With the advantages of strong graphics
cores, a family of scalable products ranging from top to bottom, and
software compatibility across all implementations, ATI will offer a
full family of SMA products with different features and levels of performance.
ATI will offer OEMs the easiest and most cost-effective path for low-end
and ultra low-end systems. Sampling will begin the second half of 1999.
ATI's SMA program
joins the company's SOC program, announced late last year, to round
out a comprehensive graphics and multimedia lineup that offers customers
the widest choice of products at unparalleled levels of performance.
ATI's SMA and SOC programs are the result of its long history of integrating
core technology blocks and responding to key market inflection points
dating back to the company's initial integration of multiple graphics
standards in 1985.
In November, 1998
ATI acquired Chromatic Research, Inc. to develop next-generation SOC
technology to produce a highly integrated product that encompasses graphics,
system logic and processor blocks into a single chip. This next-generation
technology will be ideal for numerous multimedia applications incorporated
in sub-$500 computers and consumer electronic devices such as set-top
boxes.
Corporate
Profile
ATI Technologies Inc., the world's largest supplier of 3D graphics and
multimedia technology, designs, manufactures and markets innovative
and award-winning multimedia solutions and graphics components for the
personal computer, set-top box and consumer electronics appliance markets.
An ISO 9002 company, ATI is the world's leading supplier of video and
2D/3D graphics accelerators to OEM and retail customers. Founded in
l985, ATI employs more than 1,600 people at headquarters in Thornhill,
Ontario, and in offices in the United States, Germany, France, the United
Kingdom, Ireland, Barbados, Malaysia, Japan and Hong Kong. ATI is a
public company whose shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and
NASDAQ.
