Via Adds Hitachi to List of Processor Customers

Via Technologies added Hitachi to its list of microprocessor customers, another major win in its bid to increase market share against rivals such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.

Hitachi is using a Via C7 microprocessor in a new desktop thin client and a Via Eden processor in its latest mobile client. The desktop client is 70 percent smaller than the previous generation and uses 70 percent less power, Hitachi said in a statement. The mobile client weighs just 1 kilogram and runs five hours on a standard battery.

Via has been touting a connected client initiative for enterprise users as a more cost-effective and secure way to operate. Using a connected server allows IT departments to stream software applications to the clients, and storing data on the server ensures that lost or stolen mobile clients, for example, won’t reveal company secrets, Via said. For desktop and mobile computing, connected clients can simplify the IT setup and reduce costs.

The new Hitachi desktop client, dubbed the Flora Se330 BU1, is powered by a 1GHz Via C7 processor, while the mobile client, the Flora SE210 RK1, runs on a 500MHz Via Eden processor.

The design win for Via shows it is making headway in gaining new tier-one customers amid stiff competition in the processor business. In thin clients, the company has already won Hitachi, as well as NEC, Hewlett-Packard and Fujitsu-Siemens Computers. Other new major customers include Samsung Electronics, which has built an Origami device, dubbed the Q1B, around a 1GHz Via C7 microprocessor.

-Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service (Taipei Bureau)

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