Via to unveil first celeron clone "Joshua"

BANGALORE : Taiwan-based Via Technologies to introduce its low-cost processor

code named Joshua on February 22, sources said. Via Technologies is now the

fourth official competitor to Intel in the PC microprocessor market.

Joshua, is said to run at speeds that will provide the performance of chips

running at 433, 466 and 500 MHz and more importantly, it will fit into the same

circuit boards as Intel's Celeron processor, making it the first Celeron clone,

said Via executives. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is currently arguing with

Intel in all segments of the market while Transmeta will begin to sell competing

processors for notebooks and portable devices.

Although Via represents a much smaller competitive threat than AMD, its entry

into the market will create controversies. Intel and Via are engaged in a series

of lawsuits on a licensing agreement regarding chipsets that was signed in late

1998. In addition to the standard legal claims, Intel has also filed a petition

with the Department of Commerce to bar Via from exporting chipsets into the

United States.

Via's microprocessors are not related to the chipset controversy, as it

denies the legitimacy of the lawsuits and has entered into a number of deals

with Intel licensees to attempt to neutralize any legal stance of Intel. The

technology underpinning Joshua is relatively familiar to semiconductor experts.

Via entered the processor market by buying Cyrix, the microprocessor division of

National Semiconductor and Centaur, IDT's microprocessor division. Joshua is

largely based around Cyrix technology. A new generation of chips that

incorporate IDT's designs will follow in the third quarter, company executives

said last year.

Via plans to focus on the budget computer segment. Although the other

competitors of Intel have lost money, Via is likely to succeed because of its

lower costs and because the company is part of a Taiwanese conglomerate that

makes motherboards and other computer components, which could ease the process

of getting the chip into the market. Via also has a history of association with

Everex, a small computer company that is being sued by Intel in conjunction with

the chipset suits.