Tech Companies Pony Up $10 Billion For Itanium

A group of technology companies has pledged $10 billion between now and 2010 to encourage adoption of Intel’s Itanium processor, a high-end unit that has failed to meet expectations that it would capture a large portion of the server market. The companies that will contribute to the effort are Intel, HP, Unisys, Silicon Graphics Inc., NEC, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens, and Groupe Bull. All are members of a group called the Itanium Solutions Alliance, which counts other companies including Microsoft, Red Hat, Novell, and Oracle as members. The money pledged will go toward research and development, marketing, and other efforts to help software companies develop applications that take advantage of the Itanium processor. Tom Kilroy, general manager of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group, said the money will be well spent, noting that there is “a $140 billion opportunity on hardware,” which itself is “dwarfed by the opportunity in software and services.”

CNET, 26 January 2006