Well, Creative certainly came out of nowhere this year with the Voodoo Blaster line and the retailers seem to have accepted them readily. Prior to V2 Creative didn't have a real presence in video cards (certainly no bigger than STB has.) STB is not an unknown to the retailers. They have been selling a wide array of products via retail for a long time. When the TDFX carrot is hung before the retailer's noses they will certainly bite off a large chunk. They know the TDFX logo sells a lot of cards. STBI also already deals with all the distributors.
There is nothing new which needs to be learned for this deal to work. The only change is the label on the box and, hopefully, the volume. The word on STBI management seems to indicate they are wholly capable of managing a rapid ramp up in volume. Of the range of hurdles to increasing business volume issues are certainly one of the most preferred, as opposed to brand recognition, market penetration, customer satisfaction, production, yield, etc., etc. |
