🚀 go-pugleaf

I hope this didn't get out twice!

>>>>> On 27 Jun 91 04:44:37 GMT, mc@flutter.tv.tek.com (Mike Coleman) said:

Mike> In article <43704@cup.portal.com> mslater@cup.portal.com (Michael Z Slater) writes:


>   If the IBM/Apple deal goes through, which looks likely at this point, the
>   future of the 88000 is in serious doubt.  Motorola is likely to make RS/6000
>   processors, and this is likely to divert most of its design efforts.

Mike> What about all the 88k's that will be going into Ford automobiles?  It seems like that
Mike> will be a major chunk of business for them.

IBM/Japan is selling Stratus 88k-based machines which will be launched
in the U.S. this fall.

Hmmm...I wonder which is projected to ship more units:

IBM RS/6000s and SparcStations, or Ford F-150 trucks and Escorts?

Does anyone have sales projections on the workstation/minicomputer and
automobile markets?

I would guess that the workstation/minicomputer market (excluding PCs,
Macs, etc.) ships maybe O(100,000) units per year.  I would guess that
the automobile industry ships maybe O(1,000,000) units per year.

Assuming Sparcs will be in 2/5 of all WS/mini shipments and 88ks will
be in 1/5 of all new car shipments, the 88k appears to fare quite
well on sheer volume.

I think it's unlikely that Motorola will be putting an 881x0 CPU into
a black box to control a car's engine.  That would be a waste of
money; my guess is that there will be a special version of the 88k for
embedded applications.

Who knows; maybe they will use an 881x0 in there and add stuff like a
heads up display controller with online graphical roadmaps that
respond to voice commands!  

Just call me KITT :-).

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