Channel messaging
However, to the vast majority of people, it doesn't matter how shiny and special Core i7 is if it costs too much, especially in these recessed times. Intel seems to have anticipated this and priced the cheapest of the three new CPUs at $284.
That gets us onto AMD. In the desktop sector AMD has had to restrict itself to competing in the sub-$200 market. However, at this level it has a reasonable claim to offer superior performance against price (bang4buck) to Intel and it's this case that AMD is pleading to the channel on the eve of the Core i7 launch.
Last week AMD sent subscribers to its channel newsletter a bulleting highlighting this point. Entitled "Are you feeling the crunch?" the newsletter stressed that AMD doesn't waste money on expensive TV ads, focusing instead on "building better products at competitive prices." Here's what it goes on to say:
We won't get into the debate on whether this is a strategy AMD arrived at in the face many other options or whether, with Intel's quarterly profits matching AMD's entire market cap, necessity was the mother of invention in choosing this course. Suffice it to say that the value argument is the only realistic direction for AMD to go in on the CPU side of things.