Beamer - Re: "Besides good relationships between the two companies, Dell chooses Intel because like many OEMs in this economy, it's too expensive to support two different platforms"
"Exlusively Intel
NewsFactor: How does it happen that Gateway or IBM would announce one day that, going forward, they will only use Intel processors exclusively?
Barrett: (laughing) You should ask Gateway.
NewsFactor: I should. But here I am.
Barrett: You know, I presume that the folks at Gateway are rational human beings and they compute the value and the cost of doing business with either multiple suppliers or one supplier. That is clearly a Gateway decision, it's not an Intel decision.
NewsFactor: Intel might have had a touch to do with the decision, of course.
Barrett: (smiling) We try to create value for our customers. "
Lots of good stuff in this interview !!
"Barrett: There are two ways to change the rules. You can try to change the rules when you're losing the game, or you can try to change the rules when you're winning the game. I think that there's more believability when you try to change the rules when you're winning the game, because then you're probably not acting out of frustration, or spite or some other thing. "
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newsfactor.com
Exclusive NewsFactor Interview with Intel President & CEO Craig Barrett (Part 2)
Philip Ben-David, Managing Editor
November 15, 2001
Of AMD naming its new chip the Athlon XP, Intel CEO Craig Barrett said, 'I think that's probably just AMD trying to hitch onto the coattails of Microsoft.'
Continuing his conversation with NewsFactor Network about Intel's current financial results and product strategy, Intel president and CEO Craig Barrett looks at Intel's branding strategy and competitive philosophy.
NewsFactor: It seems as though the ubiquitous "Intel Inside" sticker has always been on computers. Do you think customers really care what kind of processor they have?
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Barrett: (laughing) That's an expression of the value that PC OEMs (original equipment manufactuers) feel that Intel brings to their products. It's a badge of honor.
NewsFactor: And by the way, you can't get the badge of honor off, either -- I've tried.
Barrett: (smiling) We use good glue. We're right there next to that Windows sticker.
Marketing to the Public
NewsFactor: Are you now marketing more to the general public than you used to, as opposed to marketing to PC manufacturers?
Barrett: Actually it started about 10 years ago, in the early '90s. If you trace its history, it's always been a consumer-oriented market. What drives it is Intel's own marketing investment, plus our co-op marketing investment with the OEMs. Most of our data would show that there's been a strong preference for Intel Inside.
Recently AMD has tried to do some marketing and advertising to counteract that. But we think it's been one of our principal strengths, one of our principal advantages in the marketplace, to have that strong brand identity -- a strong consumer awareness of that brand -- which is why we continue to invest heavily in it.
NewsFactor: How was it, do you think, that in naming its new chips AMD just happened to come up with Athlon XP? What does Microsoft have to gain from such an arrangement?
Barrett: Well, according to what's been reported in the press, those were independent actions. AMD and Microsoft just happened to end up with the same letters. I don't think "XP" was trademarked or copyrighted, so I don't read anything sinister into that from Microsoft's standpoint. I think that's probably just AMD trying to hitch onto the coattails of Microsoft.
Exlusively Intel
NewsFactor: How does it happen that Gateway or IBM would announce one day that, going forward, they will only use Intel processors exclusively?
Barrett: (laughing) You should ask Gateway.
NewsFactor: I should. But here I am.
Barrett: You know, I presume that the folks at Gateway are rational human beings and they compute the value and the cost of doing business with either multiple suppliers or one supplier. That is clearly a Gateway decision, it's not an Intel decision.
NewsFactor: Intel might have had a touch to do with the decision, of course.
Barrett: (smiling) We try to create value for our customers.
NewsFactor: What do you think of the ads for AMD's 1800T processor, which appears to be going up against Intel's 1.8 GHz Pentium 4, stating in fine print that the chip actually runs at 1.56 GHz?
'Creative Descriptors'
Barrett: This is not a new aspect of our industry. Other people have tried creative descriptors before. It hasn't flown in the past, and I guess it's questionable whether it will fly this time.
NewsFactor: They appear to be trying to change the rules concerning how chip performance is measured.
Barrett: There are two ways to change the rules. You can try to change the rules when you're losing the game, or you can try to change the rules when you're winning the game. I think that there's more believability when you try to change the rules when you're winning the game, because then you're probably not acting out of frustration, or spite or some other thing.
If you look at our industry nobody ever goes broke. People lose money, but nobody ever goes out of business -- it's quite an amazing thing. There's consolidations, but people don't tend to disappear. You know, we've competed with AMD for 25-plus years, I suspect.
The name of the game is very simple: It's a technology game. Who can create the best technology? If you get there first, you're successful; if you get there second, you're less successful. That's kind of the way the industry's always worked. I suspect it will continue to do so.
NewsFactor: Are you planning any counter to what sounds like a new level of stridency on AMD's part?
How To Win
Barrett: The way you win in this marketplace is by getting the best technology out. You combine that with price-competitiveness and combine that with branding. Right now we're in the middle of a transition from the Pentium 3 processor family to the Pentium 4 processor family.
We announced a few months ago that we're accelerating that conversion, bringing Pentium 4 technology to the marketplace. We're pricing in the market for volume penetration, but that's not something that's targeted at AMD particularly. That is what we've been doing for 30 years.
You get technology out into the marketplace as fast as you can -- that is how you win. That's precisely what we're doing. We're doing that in the desktop space, in the mobile space, and we'll continue to do that. It's not a competitor-specific strategy.
It is carrying forward what has historically been a standard method in this industry: New technology wins. |
