Via cans C3 processor

Via Technologies is canning its C3 processor, literally.

The Taiwan chip maker, better known as the second-largest chipset manufacturer after Intel, has come up with a new marketing strategy for its latest attempt to grab some of Intel and AMD's market share in the desktop PC market: it will sell a "limited edition" version of the C3 process or in a brightly-coloured, 7.3-cm-tall alloy can.

The contents of this "Cool Chip In A Can" packaging, designed to stand out from competitors on retailers' shelves, will be the same as normally-boxed versions. The marketing move echoes previous products that have used unusual packaging to help catch the consumer's eye. However, innovative packaging is usually reserved for software such as games.

The special edition emphasizes Via's focus on consumers. The chip, manufactured to a smaller, more efficient manufacturing process than competitors, is designed to be low-cost while maintaining high performance.

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