IBM 1998 Annual Report Download - page 31

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Silicon germanium
In October, we announced
production of chips using our
patented silicon germanium
manufacturing process. Virtually every
telecommunications company is racing
to incorporate silicon germanium to reduce
production costs and sharpen the perform-
ance of high-speed data links, cell phones,
pagers, and other wired and wireless products.
Silicon-on-insulator
In August, IBM announced
a breakthrough in semiconduc-
tor technology that “turbo-
charges” transistors so that they can run
faster or use less power. This advance
paves the way for development of more
efficient hand-held computing devices and
more powerful network-based computers.
MAKE NO M ISTAKE. There will still be PCs – millions
and millions of them. But the PC is going to be
joined, augmented (and ultimately outnumbered)
by a vast array of information appliances, a few
of them shown here. This will bring computing
and access to the Net to hundreds of millions of
people very quickly. IBM will build some of
these devices, but our presence will be most
evident under the covers – in the leading-edge
chips and disk drives (like those at the bottom
of this page) that will power all these new
personal computing devices.
Microdrive (shown actual size)
The world’s smallest and lightest hard
disk drive debuted in September. The
Microdrive holds 200 times more data
or images than a floppy disk, and
stakes out a leadership position in the
market for compact storage devices
for digital cameras, cellular phones
and hand-held computers.
IBM UNDER THE COVERS