IDF Fall 2001 - Intel On Track

Lost my camera. Hard disk died on my laptop. Have eaten enough free cookies to toss them right back. So, I apologize for the lack of graphics, but the pen is mightier than the sword so, no a "picture paints a thousand words" taunts. We're going pure prose for this one, baby!

Bad Strategy/Good Strategy - Price Cuts On CPUs

Assuming that every dollar invested in a recession is worth far more than the equivalent in a boom period, Intel is bathing in ass's milk and partying like it's 1999, while AMD is, well, counting beans.

So, I sympathesize with folks that are very pro-AMD, but I can't lie, cutting prices, cutting spending, and hunkering down is not the best strategy right now.

The fact of the matter is that Intel has positioned itself quite nicely with the Pentium 4 2 GHz , and has enough product SKUs (stock keeping units - I always loved that acronym) to be able to price to its market. Fewere frequency steps for its business customers, and more for the consumer market to get in at different price points.

Heck, if nothing else, 2 GHz gives Intel a few more steps to SKU, or some such idiom.

While we may decry Intel's business tactics, Intel still has a grip on the Tier One OEMs, and AMD is not going to win them over with price cuts. I mean, that's the reality.

Don't get me wrong - of course, some of you will - I like cheap, but cheap is not good business policy, recession or no recession. AMD is not going to win the price war with bigger, better business.

What is even more disheartening is the fact that Intel is spending quite aggressively to build the Pentium 4 brand at the exact time that AMD is cutting back on marketing.

No - that doesn't apply to the enthusiast.

Yes - that does apply to the volume buyer, for want of a better term.