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Camino Delayed Again on the Eve of Release : Motherboard problems throw another wrench in RDRAM rollout Just when it looked like the Rambus waiting game was over, Intel Corp., Santa Clara, Calif., has delayed the Camino 820 chipset for the second time due to problems arising from errors in the memory configurations on Camino-based motherboards. Intel, which was going to roll out its Camino 820 chipset today, was set to bring about the first Rambus DRAM (RDRAM)-based PCs. However, the roll out of those PCs is now in question due to this second delay. OEMs confirmed they will delay any roll out of Rambus-based PCs until the problem can be fixed. "No OEMs will be coming out with 820-based systems on the launch date," said Peter Glaskowsky, senior analyst at MicroDesign Resources. "Let's face it, (Intel) wanted to have systems come out on the day it announced the chip and now, it'll be three months later." Glaskowsky said he expects this delay to be from one to three months, depending on how the OEMs will greet yet another delay. OEMs who had been expecting to ship Rambus-based systems immediately now will have to tear up any current systems using the main memory and replace the motherboard. The length of the delay also depends on how long Intel can fix the problem in the Camino. The problem was discovered during manufacturing test of systems using the Intel Camino chipset. Apparently, the problem in the Camino limits it to supporting a maximum of two RDRAM memory module slots on a PC motherboard. This means the RDRAM motherboards that have been built, which all support three RDRAM slots, will have to scrapped and new motherboards with only two slots will have to be built to replace them. CNet Online, which broke the story late last week, said the problem would limit RDRAM systems to 512Mbytes of memory. "This is the kind of thing that the certification problem is designed to preclude and if this has happened, they obviously have a problem with that certification problem," said Steve Cullen, senior analyst at Cahners In-Stat Group. Cullen said the evidence of the problem points to Camino and could be up to a three-month delay if the architecture is flawed. "Hard to say what went wrong, whether it was with the electrical design of Rambus itself, a problem with the 820 or a problem with the motherboard makers," Glaskowsky said. "It's pretty clear now that the transition to PC-100 SDRAM worked a lot better than this is working out." Intel declined to comment on the issue. Rambus Inc.'s Subodh Toprani, vice president of business marketing, said in other non-PC applications RDRAM has performed perfectly. "The problem is not with the direct Rambus DRAM. The problem is elsewhere," said Toprani. "You will need to ask Intel how this will effect Rambus roll out." Dell Computer Corp., Austin, said it will not be shipping any systems with the Camino chipset on Monday or the near future. This is a far cry from just a few weeks ago at the Intel Developer's Forum where Dell, one of Intel's main backers, presented various plans to roll out RDRAM-based systems and claimed it would have Camino in 50 percent of its systems by this time next year. "Our engineering group has identified problems using the Camino in our systems and our plans are on hold indefinitely," a Dell spokesman said. "We will continue to support SDRAM on our current and future systems as well as workstations and servers." Micron Electronics, Boise, Idaho, early last week said it would not be using the Camino chipset and planned to use Via Technologies Inc.'s Apollo PC-133 chipset for future systems. The company said it was waiting for the Carmel chipset that is supposed to deliver full-memory features and take advantage of RDRAM's bandwidth. The Carmel is set to be released in the first half of next year. IBM already has plans not to use RDRAM in many of its PCs, including the fastest growing segment the sub-$1,000 market. Micron Semiconductor's Jeff Mailloux, product marketing manager, said Micron has yet to take RDRAM into production and is still in the sampling phase, so the decision to push back Camino will not effect the company that much. "If I was a DRAM supplier that had several million Rambus parts on the market, I would be extremely upset," Mailloux said. Those OEMs who may be upset include Samsung Semiconductor and Hyundai Electronics America/LG Semicon, who both have been aggressive RDRAM developers. Up until Friday of last week, Dataquest senior analyst George Iwanyc forecasted somewhere between half a million and 3 million Camino chipsets being sold this year, along with 15 million to 20 million 128Mbit RDRAM units. In-Stat up until Friday said there would be 3 million to 5 million Camino chipsets sold this year accounting for 25 million to 40 million RDRAM this year. Both of these forecasts obviously will be scrapped and new ones will have to be laid out with Intel delaying Camino once again. Daniel Niles, an analyst with BancBoston Robertson Stephens, cut his rating on Rambus Inc., Mountain View, Calif., to "long term attractive" from the rating of "buy." He noted that with the possible troubles with the motherboards and the high price premiums of RDRAM, the stock will be treading water for the near future. Rambus' stock dropped more than 16 points, or nearly 19 percent of its value, last Friday. Arik Hesseldahl and Chad Fasca contributed to this article. |