Weitek Corp, having been mucked about by Intel delaying its shipment of 80486 chips, has finally decided that the time is ripe to come out with its 4167 maths co-processor. It did launch the chip last May (CI No 1,186) but pulled back from ramping up production because of Intel’s problems with the 80486. Weitek claims that the Abacus 4167 when used with Intel’s 80486 doubles the processing speed of CAD/CAM applications from a performance to 12MWhetstones from 6MWhetstones. The 4167 is upwardly compatible with the 3167 and consequently, is supported by 50,000 applications. The Abacus co-processor family came into being because it occurred to Weitek that the personal computer although far easier to handle than a workstation, lagged too far behind workstations in performance terms to make them attractive to the CAD/CAM market. In 1987 it launched its 3167 co-processor which, when used in conjunction with the 80386, accelerated the CPU by a factor of two. As a result of this closure of the performance gap some CAD/CAM software was converted for personal computers. However, with the release of the Sun SparcStation the personal computer was shoved back in its place as a business tool without the performance clout to hold its own in the CAD/CAM market. Enter Weitek with its 4167 co-processor which now means that 80486 machines with a socket for its co-processor (Compaq’s Deskpro 486/25, Advanced Logic Research’s Power Cache 4e, AST Research’s Premium 486/25 and Olivetti’s CP486 to name but a few) can compete in the CAD/CAM market. Weitek’s European marketing manager Alan Kiltie admits that a similarly configured 80486 machine and workstation will cost about the same but he believes that many customers would prefer to use a personal computer because of the raft of software available for MS-DOS machines, adding value to the box when it is not doing CAD/CAM. Weitek reckons it is the only company as yet to have developed a maths co-processor for the 80486. Each 4167 costs UKP1,000, volume shipping has begun and Weitek has already sold the next couple of months’ worth to companies such as Compaq, Olivetti, AST and Dell, and will have to ramp production up faster than planned to meet demand. However, as 80486 machines are not hitting the market that rapidly yet, Kiltie is confident that supply will keep up with demand. Last year the company shipped UKP15,000 worth of 3167 chips and expects the demand for them to continue for the next couple of years. However, such co-processors constitute a mere 20% of Weitek’s business and as it also provides chips for Sun Sparcstations, it has no particular axe to grind in the market. The Abacus co-processors each take about a year to design and develop, but as the Sunnyvale, California-based company is relatively small, with a turnover of $49m, it has to subcontract manufacture out. At present Hewlett-Packard produces the 25MHz 4167, although these co-processors will soon be tailored so that Matsushita can make them, leaving Hewlett free to manufacture any 33MHz, 50MHz versions as they arrive. Weitek is also talking to Toshiba about the possibility of setting up a manufacturing agreement for future Weitek products not made using CMOS technology. But that is all in the future. As for now, Kiltie has the headache of finding an appropriate master distributor for the 4167s in the UK. Any offers?
