Has Motorola Inc given the go-ahead for Toshiba Corp to make its own PowerPC processors? Apparently not. It had been thought that once some red tape had been cut, Toshiba would be free to manufacture PowerPC chips for its own use, but the red tape in question turns out to be very tangled. IBM Corp is saying that Toshiba will only be permitted to manufacture chips once certain conditions have been met. Apparently, all the conditions are confidential. However, an IBMer characterises the agreement as purely a matter for Toshiba and IBM, and having nothing to do with Motorola. But the company could not even confirm that an agreement is needed between the partners before a third source is licensed. Meanwhile, Motorola is adamant that IBM would have to consult it before it allowed anyone else to make PowerPCs for either the merchant market or internal consumption. The spokesman said Motorola and IBM had spoken about the deal but could not say whether Motorola had given Toshiba – its joint venture partner on 68000s in Japan – its blessing to fabricate PowerPCs.,
