A Chip with Zip

IT'S HARD TO TELL WHICH IS FASTER THESE DAYS, the speed of data as they pass through increasingly efficient chips or the speed of change in the personal- computer industry. Thanks largely to recent innovations in microprocessor technology, many of today's desktop machines are just as powerful as closet- size mainframes. The latest entry is the Pentium, a new chip developed by Intel that is almost as fast as some supercomputers. The chip, the size of a thumbnail, contains 3.1 million transistors. Not only does the Pentium -- which will be the "brain" of personal computers -- have plenty of giddyap, it will be priced at levels that are relatively low for new- generation processors. PCs incorporating the Pentium could cost as little as $4,500.

The Pentium is the latest success story for U.S. chipmakers, which in the past two years have regained most of the ground lost to their Japanese rivals during the 1980s. American companies have also scored significant success in Japan. But talks between Tokyo and Washington on continued access to Japanese markets have hit a snag.