AMD Amazes

A late entrant in the Indian market, AMD established an office here only in

April 2001. The top priority on the company´s agenda was to establish a channel

network to ensure that AMD products could be made available across the country

through its network.

Last year, AMD set out to identify master resellers or tier-two partners.

Says Sanjeev Keskar, Country Manager, AMD, "We wanted partners to give us

reach and help us in channel building." Master resellers appointed include

companies like Priya Ltd, Zest Technologies, and Great World, which gave AMD the

much-wanted multi-city reach and a captive reseller base.

MARKETSHARE MARCH



AMD’s market share according to sources was in single digits in April 2001

and has grown substantially since then. The annual MAIT-IMRB survey puts AMD

share at 14 percent. The figure speaks volumes about the efforts of the AMD

team. Globally the company’s share is 22 percent for the year ending December

2001 as reported by Gartner.

AMD today operates with a channel partner base of 1,500 plus. With the

channel network more or less in place, it has embarked upon exercises to capture

the mindshare of the reseller community. "The best way to do this was to

conduct channel activities," says Rahul Singh, Senior Marketing Specialist,

AMD.

The AMD: Ready to flex muscles
Milestones
	Entry in the OEM  space with Wipro and  Vintron manufacturing and marketing AMD processor-based  systems
	Collaborated with Microsoft as a Gold Partner during the nation-wide Windows XP launch
	Entry in server and workstation market with Athlon MP
	Start of the True Performance Initiative for measuring processor performance.

Efforts to expand the channel are continuing. AMD has announced advertising

support to partners offering systems based on AMD processors. "This has led

to creating a pull within the channel," says Singh.

Next on the cards for AMD is to expand its system builder channel so as

ensure a wider and deeper penetration and availability of its processor-based

systems.

DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD



The AMD Shop Décor Contest was the first program launched by the company.

In the initial phase, it was held only in Delhi and Mumbai. The program was run

with an idea to award the dealer who best displayed and highlighted the AMD

brand.

The company provides all its registered resellers with sales kits that

contain marcomm material. It then rates resellers on a ten-point scale on

parameters that include brand visibility, innovation in display of material,

dissemination of technical information and a test of selling skills through mock

customers.

In the second edition of the program, Bangalore was also included. "The

program was successful in the sense that we saw AMD’s mindshare going

up," adds Singh. The brand visibility has gone up among non-AMD resellers

too. Thus, the scheme was a double-edged sword, proving to be very effective in

the market.

KEEPING THINGS SIMPLE



AMD is running a Resellers Rewards Program for its registered resellers.

Rewards are given only for purchases made from a ´participating´ master

reseller. The program serves a two-pronged purpose for AMD.

While it incentivizes the channel on the one hand, it also encourages them to

buy from the genuine channel. Adds Singh, "Our efforts have made the

program now reach out to a wider audience." Incentive programs are being

extended to bring the sales staff of OEM resellers into the fold too.

The number of partners qualified to win awards under the program has been

growing quarter-on-quarter. Unable to share precise numbers, Singh does say,

"The number of qualifying resellers has gone up by two to three

times."

To keep the excitement going, AMD adds flavors to its rewards program on a

regular basis. The most recent was the opportunity to win a Duron-powered Compaq

Presario notebook. Explains Singh, "All resellers scoring a certain number

of points will be eligible to participate in a lucky draw for the

Presario."

He explains that the sale of high-end processors help resellers get bonus

points. And in the process, they also earn a higher margin. AMD officials term

the program as simple and friendly. "And that precisely is the USP of the

program," says Singh.

Channel programs were not the only activity that was on the agenda of AMD

during last year. Trainings and certifications have also been a regular part of

its interactions with the channel. "We have conducted five gold

certification events last year," says Singh. These trainings were held in

three cities across the country and witnessed the participation of over 250

partners.

AMD also attended Wipro’s annual PC Academy held in New Delhi, Mumbai,

Calcutta, Pondicherry in the month of May. The Wipro PC Academy is held once a

year regionally to introduce new technologies, which are likely to emerge and

also to cover all PC-related fundamentals.

GOING RETAIL



To keep its efforts going AMD has launched ´Processor in a Box´ (PiB)

initiative too. The AMD processors will now be available in boxes that come with

an AMD certified fan in it. "The PiB is a complete recommended solution for

the end-user," says Singh.

This is an effort launched in conjunction with its retail initiative. It has

recently tied up with Agrani Switch for establishing AMD Extreme Performance

Zones to showcase AMD Athlon processor-based PCs in eight stores across Delhi,

Mumbai and Bangalore.

AMD is also setting up demo-kiosks at the retail outlets of OEM vendors to

give customers a feel of the product. "End-customer directed activities

cannot take a back seat," adds Singh.

focussed channel activities. But with competition being what it is, it still

has a long way to go before it can put the party hats on!