IBM denies dropping Rambus memory

Big Blue says the Rambus memory technology will continue to be included in future commercial desktop PCs and workstations.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor

Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.

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Brooke Crothers

Jan. 2, 2002 4:43 p.m. PT

IBM has denied that it will drop Rambus memory technology in favor of a competing technology.

Rambus stock fell 10 points on Monday after Electronic News reported that Big Blue decided to drop support for Rambus technology in its PCs. Reportedly, IBM had decided to adopt a technology called PC-133 instead.

But IBM is denying this. "Some media outlets have incorrectly reported IBM's position on Rambus. While IBM does not disclose details about unannounced products, Rambus will continue to be included in future IBM commercial desktop PCs and IBM IntelliStations [NT-based workstations[, and we have no plans to change that," IBM said in a statement.

IBM did say that it plans to use PC-133 in its low-end PCs to be introduced in the second half of this year, according to Bloomberg News. But this is not surprising because most major PC makers will be using alternative memory technologies at the low end while ultimately favoring Rambus at the high end.

One of the problems for Rambus is that its technology has been touted for years as the next-generation, high-speed memory chip breakthrough--thereby raising market expectations--but the technology has been slow to catch on because of, among other proprietary snags, it exacts licensing fees on memory chipmakers.

Moreover, Intel's highly anticipated chipset which supports Rambus has been delayed. The "Camino" chipset will, however, appear later this year.