Compaq, API, and Samsung set Long-Term Growth Strategy for Alpha
Compaq Computer Corporation, Alpha Processor, Inc. (API) and Samsung Electronics announced a coordinated, multi-year strategy for the Alpha platform, backed by a combined investment of roughly $500 million in manufacturing capacity, product development and market expansion for next-generation Alpha solutions.
CONCORD, Mass. — December 13, 1999 — The three companies most closely tied to the Alpha architecture today outlined how they intend to work together over the coming years to keep Alpha at the leading edge of 64-bit computing. The agreement links Compaq's roadmap for Alpha-based servers and workstations, Samsung's semiconductor manufacturing capability, and API's role as the channel for Alpha processors, motherboards and reference designs into the broader market. The investment is aimed at three areas: expanding and upgrading fabrication capacity for current and future Alpha processors, accelerating the development of new Alpha chips and supporting components, and growing the ecosystem of hardware partners, resellers and software developers who build on the platform.
A three-way partnership with defined roles
Under the strategy, each company takes responsibility for the part of the Alpha business it is best positioned to deliver. The division of labor reflects how the platform had already been evolving since API was founded in 1998 as a Samsung and Digital Equipment Corporation venture, and since Compaq's acquisition of Digital brought the Alpha design teams under the Compaq name.
- Compaq continues to own the Alpha architecture and leads processor design, building its AlphaServer and workstation lines around future generations of the chip and supporting operating systems including Tru64 UNIX, OpenVMS and Linux.
- Samsung expands its role as a manufacturing partner, committing to advanced process technology and wafer capacity so that Alpha supply can scale with demand rather than constrain it.
- API focuses on taking Alpha to mainstream markets: board-level products such as the UP1000 motherboard, processor modules, chipsets, reference platforms and a growing network of OEM and channel partners.
The companies described the arrangement as a long-term commitment rather than a single product announcement. The goal is to give customers, OEMs and software vendors confidence that Alpha has a funded roadmap several generations deep, at a time when the industry was weighing a number of competing 64-bit strategies.
Where the money goes
The roughly $500 million figure covers commitments from the participants over several years rather than a single cash transfer. The largest share is directed at manufacturing. Samsung plans to bring Alpha production onto more advanced process nodes, moving the 21264 family toward finer geometries that allow higher clock speeds, lower power and smaller dies. A smaller die directly improves yield and cost per chip, which matters for API's goal of pricing Alpha systems within reach of workstation and small-server buyers.
The balance of the investment supports design work on future Alpha processors, validation and qualification of new parts, and the business development activity needed to recruit hardware vendors, integrators and independent software vendors. API expects to use its share to expand engineering around motherboards and chipsets, and to widen its sales and support reach in North America, Europe and Asia.
| Area | Lead company | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture and CPU design | Compaq | Future Alpha cores, system roadmap, OS support |
| Wafer fabrication | Samsung | Process shrinks, capacity expansion, yield improvement |
| Boards and platforms | API | Motherboards, processor modules, reference designs |
| Channel and ecosystem | API with partners | OEMs, resellers, Linux distributions, ISVs |
The processor roadmap
The current flagship, the Alpha 21264, is an out-of-order, four-way superscalar design with a large off-chip cache interface and a high-bandwidth point-to-point system bus. It already leads many published benchmarks for floating-point and memory-intensive work. The partners' plan calls for a steady cadence of faster variants, beginning with the process-shrunk 21264A and continuing into later cores with on-chip secondary cache, integrated memory controllers and glueless multiprocessor interconnect.
For API, faster and cheaper silicon is only half of the equation. The company's products depend on the chip being available in volume, in predictable speed grades, at stable prices. Samsung's manufacturing commitment is intended to deliver exactly that, so that board partners can plan product lines around Alpha without worrying about allocation.
Customers have told us the architecture is not the question. They want to know the roadmap is funded and the parts will ship. This agreement answers both.
An API company spokesperson
Taking Alpha to new markets
Historically, Alpha systems were sold mostly as complete machines from Digital and later Compaq, into technical computing, large databases and enterprise servers. API was formed to break that pattern by selling Alpha components the way the PC industry sells x86 parts: as processors and boards that any system builder can integrate. The combined strategy strengthens that model in several ways.
- Linux and open source. Alpha was one of the first non-x86 architectures supported by the Linux kernel, and it remains a favorite platform for developers who need 64-bit address space and strong floating-point performance. The partners intend to support Linux distributions, compilers and libraries on Alpha.
- Technical workstations. Engineering, scientific visualization, digital content creation and financial modeling all benefit from Alpha's floating-point throughput. API boards let integrators build these machines at price points closer to high-end PCs.
- Clusters and Internet servers. Rack-mounted Alpha nodes built on commodity-style components are well suited to compute clusters and to high-traffic web and application serving.
API also expects the new arrangement to accelerate its partner program, reseller recruitment and support offerings. More detail on channel expansion is scheduled for early next year; see the follow-up announcements on the Alpha Linux partner program and the API partner community.
Why it matters now
The announcement comes at a moment of heavy change in 64-bit computing. Several processor vendors have outlined new 64-bit architectures that are still some way from volume shipment, while Alpha is shipping today with a mature compiler, operating system and application base. The partners argue that a funded, multi-generation roadmap lets customers adopt Alpha now and keep upgrading on the same architecture, instead of waiting for alternatives to mature.
For OEM partners and resellers, the practical message is continuity. Boards, modules and chipsets from API will track the processor roadmap, and Samsung's capacity commitment is intended to keep supply aligned with demand as new speed grades arrive.
About Alpha Processor, Inc.
Alpha Processor, Inc. (API), headquartered in Concord, Massachusetts, was formed in 1998 by Samsung Electronics and Digital Equipment Corporation to bring the Alpha 64-bit RISC architecture to mainstream markets. API designs, markets and supports Alpha processors, motherboards, processor modules and platform solutions for OEMs, system integrators and resellers, with a particular focus on Linux, technical computing and Internet infrastructure. More background is available on the corporate information page.