> The e600 series did not sell well and like the 68060 that spelled doom
> for a future successor.

The difference is that a 68060 successor was never announced (AFAIK), but the e700 was.
So far, we've yet to hear Applied Micro's rationale for discontinuing Titan/APM83290 (if they did, that is).

> When Applied Micro actually lets someone see some of this mythical silicon,
> then I'll start to place more faith in their press releases.

Do you think they lied to the analysts when they claimed that Titan silicon is sampling and in the hands of customers?


Edit:

Insightful article:

"After a false start, Applied Micro Circuits Corp., or AppliedMicro, is taking another shot in the multicore processor arena. [...] The company has announced multicore products in the past. But to date, it failed to release them. "The company announced a multicore processor, but never released it as an official product, and used it more as a demonstration platform," according to the company. It hopes to have better luck with PacketPro."
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4208848/AMCC-takes-another-shot-at-multicore-semiconductor

And from a comment to this article:

"AMCC is trying again at multicore. Last year, it rolled out a CMOS-based, 32-bit processor, built around IBM Corp.'s Power Architecture. What's different is that the codenamed Gemini multicore processor from AppliedMicro [...] will be made using a 90-nm, bulk CMOS process from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) [...]. Gemini never flew, however. Here's what AMCC said: "So after announcing Gemini at 90nm last year, the company decided to wait until the 40nm in order to provide true differentiation in the market, and that's what you see announced today with PacketPro. The decision was made some time after the Gemini announcement in Sept. 2009. Gemini is a working processor and it was demonstrated at ESC Silicon Valley this year. It's been used mostly as an evaluation platform with customers. The innovative capabilities demonstrated with Gemini at 90nm led directly to strong customer feedback and the development of PacketPro at 40nm, which is being demonstrated today at the Linley Processor Conference in San Jose.""

My conclusions, considering the statements in that comment:
1. Titan/APM83290/"Gemini" silicon works and is in the hand of customers.
2. It won't be pursued any longer. The existing customers will all be switched to PacketPro.
3. The reason for killing Titan/APM83290 seems to be a mind change to go with 40nm instead of 90nm.

#3 is puzzling because Applied Micro claimed that the Titan design could easily be migrated to smaller process nodes like 40nm(*). So why was there the need to replace the Titan core by the PPC465 core? And why was the Titan/APM83290 road presented as still being pursued in late July (conference call) and early August (PDF presentation)?
It still doesn't make sense.

(*) "The Titan core [...] is designed to be portable to a variety of standard bulk CMOS geometries of 65 and 40nm."
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/711065/000119312509165561/dex992.htm (transcript of Applied Micro's first quarter 2010 earnings conference call in late July 2009)

[ Edited by Andreas_Wolf on 2010/9/28 19:35 ]