Intel Exec Dolfie: Build-To-Order Model Works

Intel

"There is a business model out there that is winning, and it doesn't matter so much if you are very big or very small," said Gordon Dolfie, director of product marketing for Intel's reseller products group, during a presentation Sunday at the Tech Builder Xchange. "It's build-to-order."

Despite the continued slow pace of IT spending, Dolfie said the industry has just scratched the surface in terms of hardware penetration. Growth will come from emerging areas such as multiprocessing or blade servers, as well as mobile form factors. Contrary to what some have predicted, he said there is plenty of life left in the desktop segment.

"The PC is becoming the center of a whole lot of other digital devices," Dolfie said.

Over the next four years Intel expects at least half of the growth in PC sales to come from so-called mature markets such as the United States and Europe, he said. By next year, mobile systems will account for about 30 percent of overall systems sales, Dolfie added.

As the channel becomes a larger part of Intel's sales mix, he said, programs intended to support the systems builder's role will include the revised co-op advertising program currently being rolled out across the country, a tighter focus on authorized distributors, specific initiatives for government and education, and renewed attention to supporting retail activities.

Intel also is planning for growth with upcoming new technology for all three segments: desktop, mobile and server platforms.

This quarter, the company is expected to ship the next generation of Celeron, which features a new footprint that enables it to work with motherboards designed for the Pentium 4 line. Also this month, Intel plans to release its new integrated graphics chip set, Dolfie said. Industry support for USB 2.0, expected this quarter, and new bus technology expected to replace PCI starting later this year, dubbed 3GIO, will also drive desktop innovation, Dolfie said.

Farther out on the horizon, Intel plans to release in early 2003 the successor to the Pentium 4 series, known internally as Prescott. That line will include support for hyperthreading, a feature offered on Intel's Xeon server line that enables an operating system to interact with the system as if it had two processors.

On the mobile front, Dolfie said Intel expects technology will come onto the market over the next several months from Taiwanese vendors that will enable systems builders to offer "white books" more easily. "The pieces for hopefully a robust mobile business are around the corner," he said.

In addition, early next year, Dolfie said, Intel expects to release a new mobile chip line, code-named Banias. The family focuses on seamless wireless support, extended battery life, performance enhancements and support for smaller form factors, he said.

When it comes to servers, Intel plans to ship this quarter a multiprocessing edition of its latest offering, dubbed Xeon Processor MP. Early next year, Dolfie said, the company hopes to bring to market the next-generation Xeon product, code-named Gallatin.