Programmable field gate array chips down in price

["E. ALLEN SMITH" <EALLENSMITH@ocelot.Rutgers.EDU>]

	What were the estimates people were giving for the cost of an array
to crack current credit card over the Net encryption?
	-Allen


>       XILINX SLASHES PRICES OF FIELD GATE ARRAY CHIPS, UPS PERFORMANCE
>   __________________________________________________________________________
                                       
>      Copyright &copy 1996 Nando.net
>      Copyright &copy 1996 Bloomberg  
   
>   SAN JOSE, Calif. (May 27, 1996 12:53 p.m. EDT) -- Xilinx Inc. said it
>   will slash the price of some of its programmable microchips by as much
>   as 53 percent over the next 12 months.
   
>   Xilinx said a new manufacturing process also will allow it to increase
>   performance of the chips, known as field programmable gate arrays,
>   which are found in a variety of complex electronic devices.
   
>   Xilinx said that by the end of the year, it expects to be selling its
>   XC5202 field programmable gate arrays for $5 apiece, down 44 percent
>   from an earlier projected price of $9. That price should decline to
>   $4.50 by mid-1997, Xilinx said.
   
>   The San Jose, California-based semiconductor maker said it also will
>   trim prices of more expensive gate arrays by as much as 53 percent,
>   bringing XC5210, for example, to $18 in mid-1997 from a current price
>   of $38.
   
>   The price cuts are for customers who purchase thousands of gate arrays
>   at a time.

[...]
   
>   Xilinx pioneered the development of programmable chips, which are
>   found in complex devices such as networking and telecommunications
>   equipment utilizing Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology. Its
>   revenue increased 58 percent to $560.8 million in the fiscal year
>   ended March 31, in the face of steadily falling chip prices, as the
>   company's products found uses in a growing number of devices.