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Witnessing History: Apple's Strategy
IT Director ^ | 6th July 2005 | Arnold Reinhold

Posted on 07/06/2005 11:43:55 AM PDT by Panerai

It's rare that one gets to watch grand strategy played out right before one's eyes. Apple's decision to switch from IBM to Intel as its microprocessor supplier is one of those moments in corporate history.

Apple, particularly after the home-run it hit with the iPod, is seen as a threat by Sony and Microsoft. Both companies have tapped IBM as their supplier for next-generation game consoles, a market that is bigger than personal computing and booming. That gave them far greater leverage than Apple in guiding IBM's PowerPC road map, a situation that Apple couldn't tolerate.

At the same time, Intel saw itself being reduced to a supplier of commodity chips for products built to run Microsoft's Windows operating system, with little prospect of the kind of product differentiation that justifies higher margins. Intel's Itanium effort collapsed in the face of AMD's 64-bit, x86-compatible Opteron. With Apple as a customer, Intel no longer has to wait for approval from Redmond to innovate.

(Excerpt) Read more at it-director.com ...


TOPICS: Technical
KEYWORDS: apple; intel
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1 posted on 07/06/2005 11:43:56 AM PDT by Panerai
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To: Swordmaker

Yet another Mac/Intel ping


2 posted on 07/06/2005 11:45:35 AM PDT by Panerai
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To: Panerai

Windows will eventually be run as a virus on a Mac/Intel platform.......


3 posted on 07/06/2005 11:55:11 AM PDT by Red Badger (The Army makes the world safe for democracy. The Marines make the world safe for the Army.....)
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To: Panerai
Apple's decision to switch from IBM to Intel as its microprocessor

I thought Apple used Motorola to manufacture their chips.

4 posted on 07/06/2005 12:29:21 PM PDT by The_Victor (Doh!... stupid tagline)
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To: The_Victor

The Power PC was a joint effort between IBM, Apple and Motorola though mostly based on IBM's architecture.


5 posted on 07/06/2005 12:33:13 PM PDT by ECM
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To: ECM

I remember the joint architecture agreement, but I though Motorola was the "supplier" (to use the author's word). IBM doesn't build or supply chips do they?


6 posted on 07/06/2005 12:38:45 PM PDT by The_Victor (Doh!... stupid tagline)
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To: Panerai

Does this mean I'll be able to use some future version of OS X on my computers?


7 posted on 07/06/2005 12:43:30 PM PDT by wolfpat (dum vivimus, vivamus)
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To: Red Badger

LOL


8 posted on 07/06/2005 12:44:47 PM PDT by cinives (On some planets what I do is considered normal.)
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To: The_Victor
IBM doesn't build or supply chips do they?

Currently, IBM does supply the PowerPC G5 chips for most of Apple's desktop computers - the PowerMac and the iMac.

Freescale, which was spun-off from Motorola's semiconductor divison, supplys the PowerPC G4 chips for Apple's portable computers, and the eMac and the Mac mini.

9 posted on 07/06/2005 1:03:08 PM PDT by HAL9000 (Get a Mac - The Ultimate FReeping Machine)
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To: The_Victor
IBM doesn't build or supply chips do they?

I think you were referring to Apple boxes, but I remember reading some time ago that IBM manufactured more chips than anyone. Dunno the specs on this..

10 posted on 07/06/2005 1:11:37 PM PDT by D-fendr
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To: Red Badger
Windows will eventually be run as a virus on a Mac/Intel platform.......

LOL!

11 posted on 07/06/2005 1:15:01 PM PDT by 6SJ7
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To: HAL9000; D-fendr; ECM
Currently, IBM does supply the PowerPC G5 chips for most of Apple's desktop computers - the PowerMac and the iMac.

Freescale, which was spun-off from Motorola's semiconductor divison, supplys the PowerPC G4 chips for Apple's portable computers, and the eMac and the Mac mini.

I guess I misunderstood IBM's role in the G5. Since I'm not a Mac user I don't keep up with Apple's business decisions. Thanks for the info.

12 posted on 07/06/2005 1:19:41 PM PDT by The_Victor (Doh!... stupid tagline)
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To: Panerai
And PowerPC's different object code made it almost impossible for cross-platform viruses and malware to propagate.

Yikes... but that would only apply to executable files that access hardware directly, right? Wouldn't apply to viruses that rely on the Windows API, even if they shared the same processor platform with Apple. Right?

13 posted on 07/06/2005 3:14:18 PM PDT by kezekiel
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To: wolfpat
Does this mean I'll be able to use some future version of OS X on my computers?

No, according to Apple. They have no plans to license OSX. You'd still have to buy a Mac to run it.

14 posted on 07/06/2005 3:15:54 PM PDT by kezekiel
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To: Bush2000; antiRepublicrat; Action-America; eno_; Glenn; bentfeather; BigFinn; Brian Allen; byset; ..
Ten Little Endians... Apple to Intel PING!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

15 posted on 07/07/2005 12:59:25 AM PDT by Swordmaker (tagline now open, please ring bell.)
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"Intel's Itanium effort collapsed in the face of AMD's 64-bit, x86-compatible Opteron."

IOW, Apple will eventually switch to AMD -- unless they get smart and dump Steve Jobs instead.


16 posted on 07/07/2005 7:14:16 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (last updated by FR profile on Tuesday, May 10, 2005.)
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To: SunkenCiv

I'm not so sure about that. Intel must have something in the pipeline that Apple likes, possibly the Yonah chip (dual core Pentium M.) Yonah is going to be introduced in January 2006, which fits in perfectly with Apple's transition timeline.


17 posted on 07/07/2005 7:39:59 AM PDT by Terpfen (Liberals call the Constitution a living document because they enjoy torturing it.)
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To: kezekiel
No, according to Apple. They have no plans to license OSX. You'd still have to buy a Mac to run it.

Dell has talked about giving buyers the option to have OSX loaded on their Dell systems.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

18 posted on 07/07/2005 7:44:45 AM PDT by al_c
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To: al_c

Dell said they would be willing to sexx OSX, they dont however have any choice over Apple allowing them to do so..


19 posted on 07/07/2005 7:57:32 AM PDT by N3WBI3 (If SCO wants to go fishing they should buy a perit and find a lake like the rest of us..)
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To: Terpfen
Yonah is going to be introduced in January 2006, which fits in perfectly with Apple's transition timeline.

That sounds right. Jobs was harping on thermal efficiency, so he definitely couldn't have been talking about a P4. I was a bit shocked at the announcement, wondering why anybody would go for the dead-end P4 architecture, but then I thought about how the Pentium M is doing. The first thing I see happening is dumping the G4 for the Mac Mini.

BTW, I have a 1.6 GHz Pentium M in my laptop, and it's pretty peppy. It's the first Intel chip I've really liked since the Pentium Pro.

20 posted on 07/07/2005 8:28:11 AM PDT by antiRepublicrat
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