Compaq moves closer to Digital

The PC maker?s interest in Alpha has sparked speculation that it could make a grab for Digital

Reports that Compaq is about to adopt Digital?s Alpha chip have prompted industry watchers to speculate about a possible Compaq bid for Digital. A source close to Digital said Compaq was considering adopting the Alpha chip for some systems products after its public spats with Intel. This may well be the extent of the partnership, but rumours are doing the rounds on Wall Street that Compaq could benefit from full acquisition of Digital. The acquisition would provide the PC company with server and workstation hardware without having to rely on Intel. One industry source pointed out that Compaq chief executive Eckhardt Pfeiffer has previously made statements showing he is not happy with Intel?s terms for using its chips and Compaq has suffered shortages of Intel processors. Helen Twelvetree, Compaq systems product manager, denied there was any substance to the rumours about the Alpha chip. ?Why would we want to do that when we?re in such a strong position using our own technology?? she said. ?You can?t provide industry standard products by using proprietary technology.? Compaq moved further away from Intel this week by adopting Cyrix as the CPU supplier for a budget Presario PC, according to sources. If that is true, Compaq has spent a lot of money on redesigning its Presario simply to avoid using Intel chips inside the PC. A source at Digital UK described the likelihood of the acquisition as unlikely. ?But it is possible,? he said. ?I haven?t heard about anyone here quickly buying Digital stock, though.? J Compaq launched a sub-#1,000 PC server this week which it says will shake up the mainstream server market. And Digital has slashed prices on its Alpha servers and workstations by up to 45 per cent ? the company has told resellers they are guaranteed price protection for existing stock.