5.
I've seen this type of story for a long time, and it isn't anything new. Dell has been selling processors from AMD like this for a while, and it doesn't represent any news or change in their policy.
Having worked at huge companies, probably the most important of which is IBM, I can tell you that big companies tend to be schizophrenic. I can't comment on Dell specifically, because I've never worked there, but at IBM you would have one part of the company that was allies with a company, and another part that was fighting it tooth and nail. An example that most people can relate to is the OS/2 versus Microsoft Windows battle of the 1990s. The PC division didn't care less, and worked closely with Microsoft, whereas the PC software division waged a protracted and ugly war.
What Dell sells online doesn't directly relate to what they will be including in their machines. That section of Dell will sell what it thinks will make it money, irrespective of the part of the company that sells PCs. It is very doubtful Intel puts any restrictions on this, and since Dell is not directly competing with AMD, there is no reason at all they should not profit from sales of AMD processors if there is a market for them. Since lots of people retail AMD processors and make a profit at it, obviously there is.
I'm not saying or even implying Dell won't use AMD processors in desktop machines, merely that this does not show any direct indication they will. On the other hand, Dell keeps lowering forcasts and not coincidentally Intel is showing erosion of market share. I think it is common knowledge the Pentium 4 is considered generally inferior to the Athlon 64, so I think one has to question how long Dell will let Intel's inferior products drag down their company (if they are, and it seems likely Intel is at least a little bit responsible). My guess is they are looking at the near future and the P8, and if the P8 isn't better than the Athlon 64 (although this is hard to imagine, you can't be sure until it is released, look at how bad the P7 is), I think Dell will start using AMD processors in their computers. They can tolerate the slowing growth for a little while, but if it looks like it is going on indefinitely, any sensible person will come to the conclusion Dell will have to start using AMD chips.
[Posted by: TA152H | Date: 11/07/05 07:10:42 PM]