hey Mike. I have been reading your posts here on the Intel thread for the past week or so and I just wanted to give my 2 cents with regards to why Intel is a Great Investment now and in the years to come.
I have been working for Distributors and Systems' Integrators for 3 years now and have a significant investment in Intel. I invested in Intel because of many reasons. First, was because of the Channel Representatives which came into our shop and educated us on Intel's Products, ie: Overdrive processors, LanDesk Manager, Nics, Video Conferencing and also the "value" of Intel Inside. These channel Guys and Gals give up about 10-20% of the Average Manufacturers Rep Salaries because they Get Mucho Stock Options from Intel. Many of these people are Very Bright and figure in the long term they will make up signifiicant dollars in their options versus the $10-$15K/year they gave up to work for other companies. Point 1 is these people are Bright and Work Very Hard and get Paid based on How The Stock Price Performs. Intel gets alot of mileage out of their people and I felt confident in putting my money in a company whose employees are Committed to the end result, dominating their competition.
Second Point. The companies I sell to buy from me first and foremost because of my relationship with them and also my ability to provide soltuions for them. These Corporate Customers - IT Managers, Dir. of MIS, etc... Do Care Big time about their jobs and will pay the extra dollars for consistency in all aspects of their Lans and Wans. I have Never sold an AMD or Cyrix based PC to Any customer and the other 10 reps in our office haven't either. Point 2 is that Intel has a stronghold on Corporate America because they get the best products to market Faster and Because They Work, Time and Time again. Believe me if an MIS Director I am working with has a $5 million dollar budget and he says we can save $10K on the next 100 PC's he has to purchase, but Oh by The Way those PC's have AMD processors in them, then his boss will probably boot him out of his office. 10K in the grand scheme of things is not alot with regards to a $5 million dollar budget, and believe me if a Wide Area network has major problems because of some new approved non-defacto standard, then that $10K savings looks like a pittance in comparison to lost productivity. Understand?
AMD and Cyrix have their placess, to some extent in the home market. If someone wants to surf the net only, then sure go to CompUSA and buy a Compaq PC with an AMD K6 processor. I don't think, however, Intel wants this Low Margin Business, but rather wants to focus on converting the Unix People of the world over to the Wintel World via SMP and Multi-Processor Boxes. This, Mike is where the Growth and Margin is and this is where the Leader can dictate the future. I am betting my money that the future lies with Intel based on my current experiences and the hours and hours of reading I do each and every day.
It really is strange - but it seems so clear to me that out of the 3 companies, Intel, AMD and Cyrix - Intel is just the best investment hands down.
Thanks thread for listening to my babble but I am confident that Intel will continue to reward Patient Investors.
Take Care.
tom |
