AMD Talks Barcelona, Solutions Program At XChange '07

Gary Bixler, director of North American marketing for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD, told attendees at the CMP Channel XChange '07 conference yesterday that the company's forthcoming Phenom processor for desktops and newly enhanced AMD Validated Solutions Program are aimed at giving the channel a boost.

"We are all about driving competition in the market, innovation that extends from that competition and then driving choice," Bixler said during his session with channel executives. "This is a great example of how competition will foster innovation."

Bixler appeared a day after his company's rival, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel, outlined its its quad-core strategy with the channel during a separate session at XChange '07. He acknowledged AMD's position -- having fewer marketing resources than the chip giant -- but said Barcelona, Phenom and the AMD Validated Solutions Program are targeted at providing channel partners key tools to deliver value and drive sales.

"Phenom and Barcelona are not just AMD dual cores put onto one chip and natively interconnected," Bixler said. "It's not the same old core. These are new, enhanced cores."

The AMD Validated Solutions Program is, as of this week, adding Super Micro Computer and Tyan Computer Corp. to its list of motherboard platform providers, which also includes desktop board providers Asus, ECS, Gigabyte and MSI.

"This program was developed to address very specific needs," said Ron Meyer, manager for AMD's validated channel solutions programs. "We've developed a program that is directly targeted at the channel."

Tim Ulmen, principal at Midwest IT Solutions Group, a Witchita, Kansas-based solution provider, attended the session with Bixler and said that, after long-running discussions by channel partners with AMD, the chip maker is delivering what is needed. Specifically, he said, system builders and solution providers need to have stability in platforms and their components -- and have those components endorsed by the chip maker -- to provide quick response to customers in need of upgrades, fixes or replacements to systems.

"It's going to help," Ulmen said.

After a difficult period with channel sales last year, when AMD couldn't meet supply needed by partners, Bixler sounded a note of optimism about 2007. He said the company is ahead of production yield forecasts for Barcelona and would provide a competitive alternative to Intel.

"What would the world be like if there was no competition?" Bixler asked.