Amd Case

AMD CASE

By:

B2B Marketing Case: AMD

Recommendation

AMD’s chief marketing officer Nigel Dessau’s biggest concern was the launch of their Fusion processors and how timing would affect the VISION brand. They were already two years behind on the launch for Llano, which was supposed to be introduced in early 2011. Therefore, the company was considering using the “Brazos First” strategy; however, we recommend the launching of Llano before introducing Brazos due to the importance of timing, reputation of the new Fusion processors, and a history of competition with Intel. The second part of this recommendation is to improve relationships with OEMs and retailers. Finally, AMD needs to switch the consumer’s fixation from specifications such as GHz and Gb, to visual experience.

Although Llano is already delayed, it will be ready by mid-2011. The next selling cycle, right after mid-2011, is the Back - to - School season. This means that waiting until mid-2011 is not necessarily a bad thing. Intel already rushed out a CPU+GPU processor called Sandybridge in order to be the first to market, and in doing so produced a mediocre product. According to analysts, “Intel GPU technology is a generation behind its CPU technology and cannot offer a cutting-edge graphics experience.” Unlike Intel, AMD’s strength is in dedicated GPUs, due to the acquisition of ATI. Therefore, AMD can release a more complete CPU+GPU processor, aka APU, in time for the Back-to-School season. Usually incentives are negotiated prior to each selling cycle: Back-to-School, Holiday season, and Spring. AMD can offer incentives to retail stores such as Best Buy, H.H. Gregg, and Office Depot prior to the Back-to-School season.

The incentives would benefit the retailers because they would be paid an extra 5-10 dollars per PC sold, that contains one of AMD’s chips. AMD would also benefit from giving retail incentives by getting more exposure on prominent displays, promotional...