Alpha Roadmap Shows New Destinations For `98


San Jose, Calif. -- Jan. 26, 1998 -- Samsung Semiconductor Inc. today  disclosed
its Alpha Microprocessor strategy for 1998,  outlining  significant  OEM  design
wins, performance milestones expected to be achieved this year and the  addition
of new licensees to the Alpha camp.  `Alpha  continues  to  lead  the  world  in
performance, particularly in the visual computing markets where leading graphics
system OEMs and  movie  studios  are  taking  advantage  of  Alpha`s  tremendous
graphics processing power,` said Y. J. Kim, Associate Director, Alpha  Processor
Marketing at Samsung in San Jose,  and  also  a  Chairman  of  the  AlphaPowered
Alliance, an industry consortium around Alpha solutions.  Carrera  Computers,  a
leading provider of Alpha-based solutions to Hollywood, designed  and  installed
the systems used to create and edit the visual effects in  the  movie,  Titanic.
`Samsung`s Alpha microprocessors added value  as  well  as  performance  to  the
Titanic production,` said Rod Frye, Chairman of Carrera Computers (Laguna Hills,
Calif.). `We look forward to  a  continuing  relationship  with  Samsung.`  When
running leading special effects applications such as Lightwave3D in native mode,
the Alpha systems developed by Carrera are capable of  providing  two  or  three
times the performance of MIPS-powered systems from Silicon Graphics Inc.,  in  a
similar price range. Performance increases are similar in  running  any  of  the
programs that have been ported to run  natively  under  Alpha,  including  Quark
Express, Corel Draw Suite, Wright Design and Painter 5.0 -- 3,200  total  number
of applications.


Alpha Powers New Servers

The server market is also embracing Alpha technology. Mactell  Corp.,  an  Apple
Clone Manufacturer in Austin, Texas, is now using the Alpha 21164  processor  in
its line of Media Servers to provide twice the performance of systems using  the
PowerPC microprocessor. `Mactell has experienced great interests and  acceptance
in the Macintosh marketplace with  our  Alpha-based  Media  Server,`  said  Patt
Berry, Vice President, Mactell Corporation. Network Appliance is using the Alpha
processor to power a range of network data  servers  that  provide  the  fastest
response time and highest throughput in the industry. A combination of  NetApp`s
proprietary software and the Alpha processor allows  NetApp`s  single  processor
data servers to beat general  purpose  servers  with  four  or  more  UltraSPARC
processors. NetApp`s Alpha-based systems provide enterprise-class  data  service
to both Unix and Windows networks.


AMD Licenses Alpha Bus

In the mainstream desktop  computing  environments,  Alpha  garnered  additional
credibility when Advanced Micro Devices announced its use of the  Alpha  bus  to
achieve pin-compatibility between its own K7 microprocessor and the Alpha 21264.
This will allow OEMs to build extremely  high  performance  but  cost  effective
systems that are socket-compatible with either the K7 or  the  Alpha  processor.
`The ability to use either processor in their systems will give OEMs the ability
to cover a range of top  to  bottom  price  points  with  the  same  motherboard
design,` Kim said. `The combination of AMD`s K7  and  Alpha  will  give  OEMs  a
higher performance alternative to the Merced processor that also offers a higher
margin.` 21264 versions of Alpha will be the first  1 GHz  processors  with  100
SPECint95  range  that  have  compatibility  with  the  latest  version  of  the
Windows NT operating system. Alpha will achieve full compatibility with  NT 5.0,
adding to its over three years of experience in  achireving  full  compatibility
and the highest levels of performance under NT. NT 5.0 will also include Digital
FX!32 x86 Windows 32-bit binary translator for Alpha in the  OS  kernel,  making
X86 compatibility seamless to users. `Alpha represents a significant opportunity
to Samsung as both a leading edge product and  as  a  logic  process  technology
driver,` said Noel Park, Vice President of Samsung`s System LSI division. `Alpha
will lead the way for the new System LSI solutions Samsung  plans  to  bring  to
market.`