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Ha. Intel pushed Itanium very hard. AMD released AMD64 and that was the end of Itanium. No one wanted it. Intel killed it because it was a failure in the market

Ha. Intel pushed Itanium very hard. AMD released AMD64 and that was the end of Itanium. No one wanted it. Intel killed it because it was a failure in the market place. I love this graph of Intel's projected vs actual Itanium sales. They certainly believed in Itanium for a long time: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Itanium_Sales_Forecasts_edit.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Itanium_...

tyingq 5y ago
I think those projections weren't really all that crazy. AMD surprised everyone with AMD64, and they were the only ones that could have done 64-bit x86 other than Intel. Intel should have had better spies at AMD :)
- chasil 5y ago
  They did. There was a skunkworks project to copy it, and the copy was not entirely correct. https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=366538 https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=366538
  - Grazester 5y ago
    Did you post the wrong link or something? That link only talks about Intel implementation(EM64T) of AMD64
    - chasil 5y ago
      This is likely more appropriate. https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/52858-picking-up-the-chips-for-2003 https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/52858-picking-up-the-chi... Also related to the 3.06GHz P4 launch were rumors that Intel has secretly included x86-64 support in the new P4 in the form of disabled circuitry on the chip’s die. Such circuitry is allegedly the product of Intel’s skunkworks Yamhill project, which is intended to give Intel some flexibility in responding to the potential threat posed by AMD’s upcoming x86-64 “Hammer” line of processors. Intel has repeatedly denied the existence of Yamhill, insisting that the only 64-bit instruction set they plan to support is IA-64. So will we see Yamhill publicly unveiled in 2003? It’s possible, but not likely. https://www.theregister.com/2002/01/25/intels_yamhill_itanic_on_ice/ https://www.theregister.com/2002/01/25/intels_yamhill_itanic...
mrweasel 5y ago
I wonder how many Itanium CPUs they’ve sold in the last five years. Also do they just do a single waffer or two every now and then, or do they have a production line?
- pjc50 5y ago
  Given the slow sales relative to projections, I wouldn't be surprised if they just did one run and it took that long to sell through. What was the last Itanium launched?
  - mrweasel 5y ago
    That would be Kittson in 2017, but I can’t find an actual sales numbers.

tyingq 5y ago

I think those projections weren't really all that crazy. AMD surprised everyone with AMD64, and they were the only ones that could have done 64-bit x86 other than Intel. Intel should have had better spies at AMD :)

chasil 5y ago
They did. There was a skunkworks project to copy it, and the copy was not entirely correct. https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=366538 https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=366538
- Grazester 5y ago
  Did you post the wrong link or something? That link only talks about Intel implementation(EM64T) of AMD64
  - chasil 5y ago
    This is likely more appropriate. https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/52858-picking-up-the-chips-for-2003 https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/52858-picking-up-the-chi... Also related to the 3.06GHz P4 launch were rumors that Intel has secretly included x86-64 support in the new P4 in the form of disabled circuitry on the chip’s die. Such circuitry is allegedly the product of Intel’s skunkworks Yamhill project, which is intended to give Intel some flexibility in responding to the potential threat posed by AMD’s upcoming x86-64 “Hammer” line of processors. Intel has repeatedly denied the existence of Yamhill, insisting that the only 64-bit instruction set they plan to support is IA-64. So will we see Yamhill publicly unveiled in 2003? It’s possible, but not likely. https://www.theregister.com/2002/01/25/intels_yamhill_itanic_on_ice/ https://www.theregister.com/2002/01/25/intels_yamhill_itanic...

mrweasel 5y ago

I wonder how many Itanium CPUs they’ve sold in the last five years. Also do they just do a single waffer or two every now and then, or do they have a production line?

pjc50 5y ago
Given the slow sales relative to projections, I wouldn't be surprised if they just did one run and it took that long to sell through. What was the last Itanium launched?
- mrweasel 5y ago
  That would be Kittson in 2017, but I can’t find an actual sales numbers.