Better-than-expected demand for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) K7-platform motherboards in the clone market has resulted in tight supply of KT600 chipsets from VIA Technologies.
VIA said the problem is temporary. Some sources said that the tight supply is likely a result of a tight capacity at BGA (ball-grid array) packaging and testing companies. The KT600 chipset, introduced by VIA in May, supports single-channel DDR266/333/400 memory and AGP 8x graphics with an 8-bit V-Link 533MB/s bus south bridge connection.
VIA also has begun selling competing chipsets – the PT800 and PT880 chipsets – for Intel's Pentium 4 platform this month. The company's shipment ratio of K7 and P4-supporting chipsets was about 6:4 in the first half of the year and 55:45 in the third quarter. Some investment firms estimate that the ratio will be close to 1:1 by year-end.
News source: DigiTimes
