jc:
"First of all, AMD has no advantage in pricing for Dell since Intel (they say) offers Dell special pricing to keep them away from going to AMD."
That is a restatement of the current status quo...Status quos can and do change as, imo, they are soon to do...now that the "competitive landscape" has been altered significantly by the introduction of palomino based product lines...
"Secondly, you seem to think that benchmark performance is everything. You're choosing to ignore the fact that:
(A) Corporate buyers don't buy AMD, so if Dell put AMD in their corporate lines they run the risk of losing sales
??? Je ne comprend pas how one loses sales by offering a broader and deeper product lineup...Once again, the current status quo, for the most part, is as you say: that corporate buyers don't currently buy AMD...Kinda like stating 2 years ago, as did many, that the consumer would never buy Athy...Two years out, I'd guess that corporate america will be lined up for AMD product, just as is the consumer at the moment lined up to buy the Athy...Dell's conundrum is in determining the threshold point for making the jump to AMD, now or in 2 years...I'd argue strongly that it is in Dell's interests to make the jump now, given the increasingly obvious evidence, further supported by the Athlon 4 release, that AMD's penchant for introducing price/performing products is not likely to wane in any relative sense for the foreseeable future...You do seem to be suggesting that INTC will close the gap and I'm suggesting they won't...Such is the nature of the marketplace...Place your chips accordingly!!!
(B) The masses are more interested in Pentiums than Athlons, because AMD is too stupid to advertise their products.
AMD seems to be doing quite well with its marketing plan and made $1 billion in profit to boot in Y2000...Can't say the same for INTC who is spending gazillions on advertising and other schemes it seems...There isn't necessarily a direct correlation between advertising dollars spent and profits generated as would seem to be implied by your comment!!!
(C) Battery time is more useful than a whit more performance for most laptop buyers. While AMD can make all the claims they want, Intel's GHz
laptop likely runs for a little longer than AMD's GHz laptop. In addition, Intel has mobile chips that run at a super low voltage which blows away the
power draw of all AMD mobile chips, even the obsoleted K6 family.
School is still out on this one...but once again, I'd suspect that you may underestimate the significance as it relates to market share gain and profitability of the price/performance advantage offered by the Athlon 4 as the Athlon 4 roll out takes place over the next faily short period..but we shall see in due course...
(D)"More than that, the 130nm Intel mobile processors -- which will beat AMD
mobile processors to market by at least six months -- will make the Palomino look like the Itanium in terms of generated heat."
Sounds like you're caught up in the INTC PR hype afain, for which there is quite a history developing with all the P3 700 MHz plus claims 2 years ago, the P4 baloney of a year ago, and now the 130nm blockbuster product lineup at some time in the future if ever...Yep INTC "should be able to" ...We've heard a lot of INTC "should be able to's" over the past 2 years...I've just lost confidence in INTC's wherewithal to deliver on their "should be able to's"... Seems you have more patience in this regard than do I, at least when it comes to INTC!!! Once again, that's why we have the marketplace...
"Clearly, Mr. 767, you are not paying attention to all the variables. The Palomino is only a "clean kill" if you ignore everything outside of AMD presentations."
I suspect that the Athlon 4 is indeed a "clean kill" as presented by AMD with respect to existing competitive products...as opposed to "should be able to" products...You're right, I'm not comparing it to everything outside AMD presentations, especially not comparing it to INTC "should be able to's" that may or may not surface as competitive offerings at some time in the future...Burned too many times, as has Dell I suspect, to "tilt against windmills" anymore!!! |
