InformationWeek

PowerPc Systems:IBM In For Power Struggle?

Canon, IPC Technologies also plan to launch PowerPC-based desktop and server products

By Brian Gillooly
Issue date: June 19, 1995

IBM won't be alone June 19 with the launch of its long-awaited PC Power Series 800. On the same day, Canon Computer Systems and IPC Technologies will also unveil non-Macintosh PowerPC-based systems.

They will launch desktops and servers that run Windows NT on the PowerPC 604 processor. The new client products represent the first time users wi ll be able to evaluate these RISC clients running an Intel-based operating system.

But for the remainder of this year, it seems that evaluation rather than implementation of the technology will be the road most users will take. Widespread interest in the systems will not build until units based on the Common Hardware Reference Platform begin appearing this winter, says Pierre Goyette, chief architect for connectivity products at McGill University in Montreal and a user of an IBM PowerPC prototype.

How Long?
The question remains how long it will be before large orders of 100 systems or more start rolling in. The answer, say manufacturers and users, lies with the acceptance of Windows NT and with IBM's marketing clout. "NT is seeing a lot of growth in MIS and is better suited for RISC" than it is for Pentium systems, says Mark Landrum, PowerPC product manager at IPC in Austin, Texas.

Adds Phil Schiller, manager of product marketing for FirePower, a Menlo Park, Calif., company that builds systems for Canon and IPC: "There is a market maker, and that is IBM. Things don't start until IBM comes out, and after that, we can all sharpen our strategies."

Nevertheless, it will be a while before PowerPC clients can go head-to-head with Pentium as a high-volume product. Charles Barbour, VP of software engineering for FirePower, says fully configured systems for business-productivity applications, such as Canon's new models, will be priced in the $3,000 to $6,000 range. The price of a similarly configured 75-MHz Pentium system is less than $2,500.

IPC's PowerPlay2 series, being unveiled on June 19, includes single- and dual-processor desktops based on 100-MHz, 120-MHz, and 133-MHz 604 chips primarily for the graphics and animation market. Pricing starts at less than $7,500 for a unit with 32 Mbytes of RAM, a 1-Gbyte disk, a 17-inch color monitor, a 4X CD-ROM drive, and integrated Ethernet.

Like IBM, Canon in Costa Mesa, Calif., is positioning its products for power users in the business- productivity environment. It is introducing two desktops and a multiprocessing server based on 100-MHz, 120-MHz, and 133-MHz 604 chips, as well as a mobile computer based on the PowerPC 603. FirePower has begun supplying its Powerized ES energy-efficient desktops, MX multiprocessing desktops and servers, and TX dedicated servers to its reselling partners Canon and IPC. The company is looking to expand the PowerPC platform by adding four to six new partners per year. FirePower was instrumental in helping IBM, Apple, and Motorola design the Common Hardware Reference Platform that manufacturers will use to build PowerPC systems running AIX, Windows NT, Solaris, OS/2, and Mac operating systems.

Comments on this story?

InformationWeek http://techweb.cmp.com/iwk