New Chip Architecture - Ia64

This is very important paper

red as the 1st generation new chip architecture-IA64 that has the potential to supersede both the Intel -80x86 architecture and the HP based PA architecture.

It is strongly possible Intel would ultimately abandon its line of 32 microprocessor in favour of IA-64 architecture therefore it is quite evident from the case .Also disruptive technology are recon to be a game changer in the Hi-tech industry , thus there is a strong indication that market do need the next generation of micro-processor that is Merced chip .

Q-2 Who will benefit most from the introduction of Merced chip in the market served by ESG?

The market served by ESG is basically enterprise computing (Server) and engineering computing (workstation).

CISC microprocessor was also entering the workstation market. Performance overshoot is most likely to happen by IA-64 Merced by disrupting the enterprise computing market.

HP had decided to jointly develop a new 64-bit processor with Intel and a chip, code named Merced was conceived as the first generation of new chip architecture. This step questioned HP’s commitment to UNIX and therefore will give major competitive advantages to Sun who presented itself to customers and independent software vendors, as the vendor of choice for UNIX-based systems.

As mentioned in the case it appeared to many in the industry that ESG had conceded the UNIX market to the Sun, so particularly in the ESG segment the SUN is expected to be benefitted more at least in the initial stages

Hewlett Packard's Merced Decision

Q-1 Does the market need Merced chip?

Ans: Merced is the new chip developed by Intel for data transfer. This chip along with its corresponding architecture called IA-64 will be the backbone of the new enterprise computer systems to be developed by HP.

Based on this computer chip HP needs to develop workstations and servers. The market demand for Merced is related to the time it will have in the market before the second generation McKinley chip is launched. McKinley has a much higher performance level .

Merced was considered as the 1st generation new chip architecture-IA64 that has the potential to supersede