Intel assures uniform supply of CPUs

Following complaints from the channel about unavailability of Celeron and

P-III processor, Intel has assured partners that the supply will become regular

by mid-June. Says Amar Babu, GM-Channels, South Asia, "Given the fact that

March is a strong month, we did not expect sales in April to be very high. But

this is precisely what happened. So to meet the demand, we gave the supplies

alloted for May in March, leading to a shortfall in May."

Intel, however, denies reports that the supply has been erratic for almost a

quarter. "The challenges in supply were present only in May. If partners

are not getting the CPUs from distributors, I would advise them to inform us

about this issue directly," adds Amar.

Intel also recently launched its Brookdale chipsets. In a bid to make these

chipsets a better selling proposition for channels, Intel will soon be launching

Brookdale-compatible motherboards that support DDR and RDRAM for the 845G and

845GL chipsets.

These motherboards have an onboard graphic card. Since a separate graphic

card costs approximately Rs 1,500, the motherboard will bring the total platform

cost of the system down by at least Rs 3,000. Says Amar, "The quality of

the graphics in the Brookdale chipsets are high. They are also USB 2.0

compatible."

Training has already been provided to partners to make a transition to the

new chipset architecture. The 845GL chipset is targeted at the lower-end

segment, while 845G and 850E will be aimed at the middle and high-end buyers.

VINITA BHATIA