AMD eyes new growth segments
Entry-level desktop PC market is on vendor's hit list as it predicts the start of the long-awaited upgrade cycle
AMD is setting its sights on aggressive growth in new market segments, as the processor and chip giant hails a new dawn for the company in 2014.
Already firmly established as the go-to vendor for the high-end gaming community, and being a dominant force in the games console market, shipping its technology in more than 200 million consoles globally including Sony's and Microsoft's most recent PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launches, the vendor has its sights set on expansion and wresting more B2B market share away from its biggest rival Intel.
"We believe there is an upgrade cycle coming and these days everything is about compute power," said Neil Spicer (pictured), who has recently been promoted from senior sales manager for the EMEA component channel at AMD to head up the vendor's EMEA CPU business.
He said the firm's recent launch of its Kaveri APU signals an exciting time for the vendor and its wider channel, as the technology makes more of a dent in other markets including the lucrative entry-level PC space for consumers and business and emerging markets.
"In 2012/13 we recognised 90 per cent of our revenue in the PC and client market, but by 2015, 50 per cent of the company's revenue will come from emerging growth segments such as consoles and we are moving to new designs in the tablet market," said Spicer.
A major area of focus is the B2B entry-level desktop space.
"It is unusual for a vendor to talk about costs. But there is an opportunity to build an entry-level PC from a starting point of around $70 [£42] with an APU and motherboard," he said, citing the example of AMD's latest A44000 quad-core CPU with DX11 graphics card.
"If you take the example of a small independent builder looking to buy a couple of new computers, this is where we can win. Price is what matters to customers in the marketplace and resellers want consistency. For us that is not about being predictable, but more about being stable."
Spicer added that AMD's pledge of pre-announcing price drops in advance is a help to its partners, and allows them to better plan inventory levels and not get caught out.
Most importantly, the channel will play a vitally important role in AMD's plans, he said.
"It is very much about resellers first," Spicer said. "What do we need to do to make them profitable and for them to trust AMD? We are in a really good place right now in terms of products and profits. It is well known that if you focus on people then everything falls into place and it is the same with the channel. If we focus on these guys and build the right infrastructure for them, then everything will fall into place."
And he explained that AMD had learned lessons from the past.
"The big thing for me is that the AMD you thought you knew is not the AMD we are today. We have been through the acceleration stage of our turnaround and are now in the transformation stage," Spicer said.