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The survey highlighted Intel's strength in channel service and support, but also caught its weakness on the technology criterion of price/performance, where AMD made a dramatic showing. Intel, which supplies about 80 percent of the world's microprocessors, had a comfortable spread in overall solution provider satisfaction, earning a composite score of 78.8—2.9 points higher than AMD's 75.9. Much of that lead came in channel program satisfaction areas, where Intel, Santa Clara, Calif., trounced AMD by 8.6 points in the area of vendor support. It also came up big in the areas of technical education and service revenue opportunities, by 5.7 points and 4.3 points, respectively. It tied with AMD in one area: availability. "Customer service is one of Intel's strong suits," said Ken Shafer, president of Agape Computing, Salem, Ore. "If we have a defective Intel part, we don't have to wade through voice mail. It is dealt with quickly." Many system builders say they like to use Intel because it not only builds the processors but also the chipsets and motherboards. By offering a "branded" solution backed by in-house support, many system builders feel they have a stable offering for their corporate customers. They also appreciate extended support options, such as cross-shipping for some product returns. AMD, on the other hand, relies on third-party manufacturers to complete the solution set. Sources from a variety of manufacturers can make it harder to maintain quality, some system builders said. Intel's recent promise to offer channel-only SKUs, such as a low-cost server CPU expected to ship later this year, also garnered kudos from partners. Such products help make system builders more profitable, said Joe Toste, vice president of Equus Computer Systems, Minneapolis. "To us this represents a new and special commitment to the channel," he said. Intel's lead in technical satisfaction areas was smaller. While Intel beat AMD in the area of product quality and reliability by a sizable 7.1 points, AMD made up for that lost ground by rising 7.2 points ahead in the area of price/performance. As a result, Intel's overall technical satisfaction rating was just 1.4 points ahead of AMD's. This year's survey shows Intel is still the Channel Champ with its strong channel programs and product quality and reliability, but it faces a challenge from AMD in price/performance.  |
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