Dell asserts its commitment to AMD despite reduced options

Though there may be fewer consumer notebook and desktop computers with AMD processor options available online through Dell Direct today than there were last week, an AMD spokesperson told BetaNews that Dell is not backing away.

Directly refuting a Wall Street Journal story this afternoon which featured his own quotes, AMD corporate spokesperson John Taylor told BetaNews that it is his understanding that Dell Computer is not backing away from selling AMD-based computers on its Dell Direct Web site. That said, there are indeed fewer AMD options available to consumers than just a few days ago.

However, as Dell Computer corporate spokesperson David Frink -- also quoted in that story -- told BetaNews personally this afternoon, "We're committed to the AMD product line as a long-term partner in order to provide maximum choice for our consumer and business customers."

Frink added that any conclusions that may have been drawn about Dell somehow "walking away" or "stepping away" from AMD, paraphrasing the WSJ headline, was a creation of what he called the "tech news community" that is too quick to draw conclusions.

Despite multiple published reports both before and since the WSJ story, stating that consumer-grade AMD-based notebooks are no longer available from Dell Direct, BetaNews quite easily located this value-priced Inspiron 1501 system still featuring Turion 64 X2 processors.

"I was a little surprised by the Journal headline," Taylor remarked, referring to a story whose headline at 2:00 pm ET read, "Dell Takes a Step Back from AMD." "It's almost like a glass half-full/half-empty thing," he said, in an effort to put the news in what he believed to be its proper context.

It's AMD's understanding, Taylor told BetaNews this afternoon, that Dell is in the midst of a consumer product transition. Just minutes later, Dell's Frink validated that characterization.

Dell Computer's business, said Frink, is 80% comprised of what it calls "business institutional" sales, to industries, schools, governments, hospitals, non-profit organizations, and SMBs. The remainder is comprised of consumer sales, and it is solely that segment of the market that is impacted by the reduction in options for AMD processors, he said.

But that reduction may be more than offset, Frink said, by the fact that "we've added literally thousands and thousands of retail outlets that carry Dell systems for the home user...the consumer business, over the last six to nine months, to deliver more value to consumer customers."

A majority of AMD-based systems, he added, have been sold in recent months through those retail channels, which now include Wal-Mart and Best Buy stores; and also a great many have been sold by phone, compared against Dell Direct. Therefore, Frink explained, this channel adjustment may actually increase the final number of AMD-based Dell systems sold over time, by increasing their availability to those outlets where demand is highest.

"Dell has embarked on this strategy to go big into retail," AMD's Taylor told BetaNews. "AMD is playing a really big part in that. AMD has a very strong brand and a very strong retail presence. [So] Dell is making a shift in where it's offering its AMD-based products."

"This is not a blow to AMD," Taylor stated. "We're having a lot of success with Dell, not just on the consumer side, but still a lot of success with Opteron [server CPUs]."

In speaking with Dell's David Frink, I cited a July 2006 interview with Michael Dell I conducted for my publication at that time, just days after the company's initial partnership deal with AMD was announced. I asked Mr. Dell whether the deal was just to fill a short-term gap in his company's product line, and he responded that this relationship was long-term. His spokesperson at the time, seated next to him, filled in that Dell would not have entered into its relationship with AMD were it not for the long term.

I then asked Frink whether that still represented his company's point of view today. Frink responded, most emphatically, "Yes."