Made-in-China microchips will be sold overseas for the first time after Chinese embedded central processing unit (CPU) firm ARCA Technology formed the alliance with the US's biggest network computer (NC) maker WYSE Technology to give it access to the global market. 

ARCA, China's first central processing unit (CPU) provider, formally established strategic alliance with WYSE Technology, the world's largest network computer manufacturer, on February 12. WYSE is the first ever transnational who uses China-made CPU, and this is a mark that home-made CPU began to enter world markets.

Arca Technology, the first Chinese company to design chips for network computers (NCs), will provide its ARCA-2 processors to WYSE to be used in the latter's products sold worldwide.

In 2001 ARCA put out "ARCA-1", the first commercialized CPU product in Chinese history.

The ARCA-2 chip is the fastest embedded processor in China. It has a clock speed of 400 megahertz and a power consumption of 0.4 watts.

"This co-operation with WYSE will let us enter the world's CPU market, which is unprecedented for a Chinese chip company," said Li Delei, chairman and president of ARCA.

The alliance with WYSE means China now has competitive power in CPU core technologies, said Fan Boyuan, deputy mayor of Beijing. The cooperation between ARCA and WYSE this time changed the long-standing model in which foreign companies provide technology and Chinese companies offer market and cheap labors, therefore marking the growth of China's information industry.

As a business leader of network computer, US-based WYSE takes half global markets. It had long taken CPU from National Semiconductor, and this is the first time in the company's history to adopt a product from other company.

"The excellent performance of ARCA CPU product impressed us deeply", said WYSE president John Stringer, "it firstly conquered our engineering department, then our market department. I'm very inspired that a Chinese company is capable to put out such a product".

A network computer only has devices like a monitor, keyboard and mouse and relies servers for storage and software. It costs much less than a personal computer and is also safer.

The ARCA-2 chips will be used on all Wyse 1000 NCs and run on WYSE's self-developed Blazers operating system.

The computers will be released worldwide simultaneously, but the companies have not decided the launch date.

The two companies will also work on new products in the Arca processor family.

The Chinese chip designer will release ARCA-3 this year, but Li Delei did not disclose technical details or the release date.

The firms also would not say how many processors will be included in the deal. But according to Li Delei, the Wyse 1000 model accounts for about one third of the US company's total shipments of network computers.
 
(People's Daily February 14, 2004)