A recent meeting at Michael Dell’s house in Texas “marked the signing of a pact between the one-time Intel-only computer-maker and the upstart chip maker,” Theo Valich reports for The Inquirer. “And it appears that AMD just pulled biggest coup in the history of chippery, whatever it turns out in sales results.”
“The event was concluded with a deal about ‘No Leaks’ policy, but the magnitude of the news was such in both companies that there was no way it wouldn’t get to lower segments of the company,” Valich reports. “According to our molars, Dell’s AMD-powered offerings will include the full range of desktops, notebooks, workstations with a clear marketing focus on student notebooks for an initial Back-To-School line-up.”
“The computers will be advertised as “Windows Vista Premium Ready”, and the graphics mix is likely to come from Nvidia side for now,” Valich reports. “If you’re still wondering why a market-share leading company like Dell might take the risk and go the competitor’s route at the time when new marchitecture from its primary partner is probably set to rock the world, there is only one simple reason: Supply.”
Valich reports, “Dell can get Conroes and a great share of WoodCrests and take a ticket to stand in line for Meroms, which are scheduled to be split between Apple and Lenovo. No other manufacturer will get anywhere near the volumes of these two, and Dell just does not like to be on a short leash. Especially if it spends valuable TV air-time and paper ads on products that look likely to be put on a back-order.”
Full article with more details here.
MacDailyNews Take: AMD is about to get their collective arse handed to them by Intel. Dell just hopped off Secretariat for a ride aboard a 50-1 nag that, without a surprise injection of Lasix, could soon be bound for the glue factory. Luckily for Dell, the vast majority of their customers will never know the difference.
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MDN Take: Amen and pass the ammo. Poor fools.
A chip isn’t going to help those mediocre products that Dell sells.
Great take, MDN. Intel is ready to surge, and Apple leading the pack. Soon the fastest/best PC (Mac and/or Win) will be an Apple.
“biggest coup in the history of chippery”
I thought that was when Intel chips replaced power chip (IBM, Motorola, etc…) in Macintosh……
hehe good take!
Michael Dell lives in Texas?
Why am I not surprised?
Why would the #1 computer maker have to wait in line behind Apple? I like the sound of it, but it just doesn’t compute!
Dell is giving up a tremendous amount of co-op advertising dollars with this deal.
My guess is that Dell doesn’t see any value in the co-op dollars. People are going to buy Dell with, or without, the level of advertising they do.
I think Dell went for better processor pricing (and reduced advertising), and will do a slight of hand to make their computers look fast by using better video cards. In the low end market this could work to improve margins, something Dell lacks.
The high-end is going to buy Intel, and Dell continues to maintain a presence there.
Interesting MDN Word: Death, as in: This could also be the death of Dell.
face– so does Kinky Friedman..
“If you’re still wondering why a market-share leading company like Dell might take the risk and go the competitor’s route…..”
One reason…. PRICE!
Dell makes cheap stuff and AMD is cheaper than Intel plus they offer ample performance to run MS Office. Most idiots that “get a Dell” don’t need higher end performance, they just want a cheap price. We’ve entered the age of disposable notebook computers.
My money is on Chipzilla. AMD has had their 15 minutes of fame. Stay tuned when the new Pro Mac Desktops and servers come out. Before Christmas shopping we will have new iMacs with Core 2 Duos and Maybe OS 10.5. Dell will be selling Opteron and Athlon 64 chips on XP.
(yawn)
“There are only 2 things that come from Texas”
Dell is doing what it can to trying avoiding competing with Apple…
Interesting (and possibly a smart move by Dell. This will lead to further price and performance differentiation between Dell and Apple now that Apple runs Windows.
I’d like to see Apple offer AMD chips. I don’t think this is a bad move by Dell and certainly reminds Intel there are consequences to giving your (intel’s) best customer’s (Dell’s) competitor (Aaple) with preferential treatment (Core Duo, etc) when they are the new kid on the block (previously PPC).
I’m as big an Apple fan as anyone on this site, but you guys are acting like the lemmings in the old Mac commercial. Just a year ago, you were laughing at the rumors that Apple might switch to Intel. If anyone even thought a switch to x86 architecture was within the realm of possibility, AMD would have been the company of choice because of their underdog status and their willingness to go head-to-head with Intel… and win. My, how quickly we forget that Intel was one half of the evil Empire.
I haven’t seen the newest offerings by Intel but I have been an AMD fan for years.
Their processors are speedy and powerful, and performance is comparable to Intel chips running several hundred MHz faster. They are a real value deal.
Just last week I just set up a new HP 2.2 GHz dual-core Athlon 64 X2 3800+ machine for a client, to be used as a Windows 2000/SQL server. The box is marketed as a Media Center PC. HP built it around an ASUS A8N-LA motherboard. The cost with 2.2 GHz Athlon 64 X2, 1 GB RAM and 250 GB SATA drive was only $679! Dirt cheap! As far as speed goes, the box is a screamer.
AMD knows how to build CPU’s. They are able to offer them at reasonable prices. There’s a lot to be said for great performance at low-end price. Even if they can’t compete immediately with Intel’s newest, the curent crop of AMD CPU’s are still great chips. A deal with Dell could give them much-needed market share. Don’t write AMD off just yet.
You all befuddle yourselfs too much with Dell.
Beware Lenovo.
fascinating. Looks to me like Dell is scared of Apple, and wants to take their muscle elsewhere. Maybe they are hoping to take the wind out of Intels sails and thereby hurt Apple.
whatever: the quote only works if you change your name to either “Gunnery. Sgt. Hartman” or “Gunnery Sgt. Emil Foley”
My hunch is that this is nothing to do with supply, but everything to do with costs. Dell will doubtless have negotiated a very attractive deal with AMD and will be able to sell PCs at a lower price with AMD chips inside.
The downside for Dell is that they will no longer be in such a cosy relationship with Intel and Intel have already mentioned how the new two-way relationship with Apple is inspiring their designers to think in new ways. Therefore there is a very high probability that in the near future, Intel chips will be very different than one might have otherwise expected. However, there is also the possibility that any such advances would need an OS that could embrace the new possibilities and Apple will always have the advantage there as they write their own OS and integrate it very tightly with the chips available, so maybe Dell would only have got limited benefits from those advances, while Apple would be fully exploiting them.
Dell is committed to differentiating it’s products by lower purchase price. Apple differentiates it’s products by innovation and quality. My money is on Apple to have the better long-term business plan and there will soon come a point where Dell is no longer able to undercut it’s rivals and still remain a viable business. Somebody ( probably in China ) will find a way to make PCs cheaper than Dell does and then how will Dell be able to respond ?
not a good move by dell, this will create bad-will between intel and dell. when theres new technology, and or a supply shortage, whos going to get it first? the company who went to intel. or the company who left it?
dell are running scared, theyre making no money on there machines, so i suppose it was a forced move.
but can AMD supply enough, or more than Intel? thats what I cant believe is possible.
the thing i’d be worried about was if AMD had new, unbelievable technology.
but theres no signs of that and we havnt seen anything that intel cant compete with as yet.
for me its a sign that dell are running like a desperate animal. about to be shot down in a blaze of glory, mwahahahahahaah haha hahahaha !!!!!
Knock, Knock, Knock.
Who is it
Housekeeping – you want me to come in and jerk you off
What kind of a place is this
Apple holds such a small market share, yet Dell and others do consider positioning against Apple because Apple’s brand is so powerful.
From a marketing perspective, it is smart for Dell to change the game – if they had Apple’s marketing abilities, which they do not, making this is a complete blunder.
From a technology standpoint this move could not come at a worse time for Dell…
On the technology side of the house this does two things for Dell:
1. “MacBooks cheaper than Dells!” This was the mantra for the past month or two from all corners of the technology space. It positioned the MacBook as a cheap, but value, product. By Dell changing the processor game, like-to-like comparissons will be harder to make.
2a. It allows Dell to lower costs once more, positioning themselves for low-cost buyers and staving off increasing pressure from HP and Lenvo. It allows them to look cheaper than a Mac, and a Mac to appear as a simply expensive box (regardless of the performance/price ratios).
2b. Lower prices allow Dell to play more effectively in oversea’s markets, their last major growth area.
Again, Dell does not have the marketing savvy to deliver a clean message, which can only help raise confusion in the consumers mind.
Technology:
To see that Apple and Lenvo will get the lion’s share of Merom chips – that is very interesting… It means that Dell does not believe it can sell toe-to-toe with Apple spec. for spec. and price for price.
A. Apple will build a superior hardware product people want.
B. Apple has better marketing and a balanced distribution model.
C. Price to price Dell does not believe it can win, thus is changing the game.
Dell is poised to falter… even more
~Steven
Dell will doubtless have negotiated a very attractive deal with AMD and will be able to sell PCs at a lower price with AMD chips inside.
————
Doubtful, this will only enable Dell to actually break even on their low-cost pc’s. Something they haven’t been able to do with Intel.
PRICE:
With Apple in the late 80’s and 90’s, their boxes were sometimes $1,000+ more than their competition. Spend $2,000 on a Dell or buy a Mac for $3,000…
Now take a look at iPods. Some products are now $20 lower than Apple’s, but the price points are so low, not many consumers really care. What is $20? A movie, a dinner – may be!?
The iPod is not $799 and the equivelant is $399… Consumers are going with the iPod because to a large degree price has become irrelevant.
But what does this have to do with Dell? Continue.
With this AMD move Dell continues to look for low-cost solutions. This may help them in Asia, but in the West, someone could buy a slightly slower AMD Dell for $950 or a slightly faster MacBook for $1050.
What is the major consideration now? Price or performance? Design or resale value? Which OS’s it can run? How rugged is the box?
Apple, HP, Lenvo, there is not this massive price gap between them and a Dell, so price is moving down the list, or just as important as many other factors when considering a computer purchase.
Dell built their game on price and volume, but that game is all but over. Amazingly enough, Dell appears to be headstrong and is going to try and milk the dry cow…
Sounds great to me.