Advanced Micro Devices Inc has won another high-profile customer for its K6 Pentium II clone, as PC maker Packard Bell NEC has announced it is now shipping desktop and notebook systems with the AMD-K6 chip. Desktop models Packard Bell 955 and NEC Ready 9888 will move with 333-MHz AMD-K6-2 processors with 3DNow! technology, while the NEC Reach 340T notebook machine will feature a 300-MHz mobile K6 processor. All of the new systems will come bundled with productivity and entertainment software and will be available from retail outlets throughout the US in time for the holiday shopping boom. The deal with Packard Bell NEC is significant for AMD in that it brings the number five PC vendor worldwide into the fold and most likely buries any ill will that may have existed between the two companies after the PC maker lured AMD’s chief financial officer Marvin Burkett away with an offer that he couldn’t refuse earlier this year. The deal had been in the works for some time and AMD says it now has deals with all of the top five OEMs in the retail sector – which also include Compaq Computer Corp, IBM Corp, Hewlett-Packard Co and Sony Electronics Corp – but direct vendors such as Dell Computer Corp and Gateway Inc are still not among its customers. While we shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for an announcement concerning either one of those companies, AMD said, it is certainly pursuing them. It’s unclear what effect the deal with Packard Bell NEC will mean to National Semiconductor Corp’s Cyrix subsidiary, which also signed a deal with the company in May (CI No 3,416).
