Is Wintel withering? First Dell, then Toshiba, erstwhile staunch Intel-ites, let in the alien hordes of AMD, then Dell goes back to selling PCs with an old OS after Microsoft Vista bombs.
The interdependence of the electronics industry is being exposed in all its far-reaching power. The ripple effect of Vista turning out to be a dog, is that the DRAM manufacturers find they've overbuilt in the expectation that Vista would boost PC sales, and now Samsung is refusing to sell DRAM at the sort of bombed-out price computer manufacturers are insisting on.
Could it be what Andy Grove calls an 'inflexion point'? A point after which the world is never quite the same again?
Well one would hope so. The 20 years over which the PC has been the semiconductor industry's principal application have not been a great time for the industry as a whole, because so much of the industry's profits have gone into Intel's coffers.
If that was the reward of sweat, innovation and creativity, no one would object. But it's not. It's the result of Intel, almost accidentally, getting a legal lock on the market and twisting that screw ruthlessly with ploys like paying computer makers inducements to sole-source, or majority-source Intel processors.
Money, like muck, is best spread thin. If Wintel really is looking like a busted flush, then the good news is that the money in the chip business will be spread wider. And that's good for everyone.
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