On Sat, Dec 01, 2001 at 10:58:24AM +0100, Alexander Klein wrote:

> I still wonder, however (getting a bit off topic), how Motorola could
> possibly justify the price for new '040s. These are hell-expensive
> (compared to modern processors), and, measured by today's standards,
> not really worth the expense.

the prices probably reflect a combination of things...

I doubt moto has done a die shrink on the 040 in the last five years,
and so they are paying for a fab somewhere to keep pumping out batches
of 040s using a now obsolete process.  this, coupled with loss of
economies of scale, means that setup costs (assuming it has remained the
same, it may have risen due to obsolete processes) for each batch of
040s is now higher per chip.

then of course it's a captive market and moto can get away with it
because they can.  (more likely explaination.)

truth lies somewhere between the two...

-- 
  Aaron J. Grier | "Not your ordinary poofy goof." | agrier@poofygoof.com
     "No single layer of abstraction can save the world or even make
      good coffee."  --  Kevin P. Neal