The IBM logo in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., in February of last year. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG NEWS
International Business Machines Corp. in 2013 began offering its technology for other companies for use in their own chips and computers. Now some tech firms in China are taking Big Blue up on it.
China’s Suzhou PowerCore Technology Co. said it would offer its own variant of the IBM Power8 microprocessor, the first chip to emerge from the program, which is known as OpenPower. The CP1, as the Chinese chip is called, is expected to be used initially by another Chinese company called Zoom Netcom in a new line of servers called RedPower.
An array of hardware based on Power8 technology was on display at an event in Silicon Valley this week, including prototype circuit boards by Google Inc. and Rackspace Hosting Inc. and servers by China’s Inspur Group Co. The terms of IBM’s OpenPower licensing haven't been disclosed.
For IBM’s partners, a key motivator is the desire to foster competition amid Intel Corp.’s near-total lock on the market for microprocessor chips used in servers, particularly the varieties used by big Web companies and other cloud-style facilities.
In China, government officials have nurtured local chip makers for reasons that include fears that foreign intelligence agencies could find ways to exploit non-Chinese components. Taking part in IBM’s OpenPower program doesn’t address such concerns, but IBM is encouraging licensees in China and elsewhere to add custom features that they control.
“What we do is we develop based on key industries’ needs,” said Adam Zhu, Suzhou PowerCore’s chairman, in an interview Tuesday on the eve of an OpenPower event in San Jose, Calif.
Mr. Zhu said his company is in discussions with a range of potential customers in China about using the Power8 technology, including communications carriers and power companies. He expects the chip to be ready in June.
Ken King, IBM’s general manager for OpenPower alliances, said Chinese officials endorsed the program last fall, helping to spur demand in the country. “It’s a local China pull versus an IBM push,” he said.
IBM, which has been reducing its reliance on revenue from selling hardware, uses its Power microprocessor line, of which Power8 is the latest, in one of two remaining computer lines. The Power8 is known for extremely high performance.
But the IBM server business that uses the chip line has been shrinking, as the x86 technology used by Intel andAdvanced Micro Devices Inc. has become ubiquitous. So Big Blue opted to change its tactics to reach cloud-based services, which have been the most active server buyers lately.
Such customers often favor commodity-style servers and components that are available from many suppliers. So one of IBM’s thrusts is to sell its own Power8 chips to makers of such hardware.
The first is Taiwan’s Tyan Computer Corp., a server supplier that is a unit of MiTAC International Corp. IBM recently said its cloud services unit SoftLayer would offer the Tyan systems as an option.
Other cloud companies have expressed interest in non-x86 servers. Google was an initial member of the OpenPower Foundation; one of the Web giant’s executives, Gordon MacKean, chairs the foundation. The company hasn’t spelled out any plans for deploying Power8 in its own data centers.
Rackspace didn’t initially publicize its involvement with the effort. But the cloud service, besides developing a prototype Power-based server design, says it plans to deploy such systems as an option in addition to servers based on Intel Xeon x86 chips.
Changing hardware technologies can translate into a lot of work for the software developers who patronize cloud services. But Aaron Sullivan, a Rackspace senior director who also holds the title distinguished engineer, said shifting to Power-based hardware has become a lot easier with recent versions of the Linux operating system and other developments.
And the shift could pay off big in many cases, he said. “You can get 10 to 20 times performance gains” from Power chips over x86 chips, Mr. Sullivan said.
Intel isn't standing still, offering frequent upgrades to its Xeon line and customizing chips for big cloud customers. The company has been battling not only Power8 but also new chips based on technology licensed by ARM HoldingsPLC, the chip design used in most smartphones.
Mark Miller, an Intel spokesman, dismissed the notion that Power8 offers major technical benefits, noting that Xeon sales have risen steadily as IBM’s volumes have fallen.
“Regardless of claims, Intel architecture has demonstrated the best balance of performance, cost efficiency and reliability across the broadest set of workloads,” Mr. Miller said.
