Intel said it expects the recall to cost $US300 million in lost revenue for Q1 and fixing the problem to cost approximately $US700 million, bringing the total cost of Intel’s mistake to $US1 billion.
Intel plans to begin offering the fixed chipset to customers in late February and fully recover the lost revenue chipset by April. The company also pledged to contact the system builders and customers who purchased potentially flawed chipsets or systems in order to replace or modify them.
For Intel executives who said previous platforms Arrandale and Clarkdale didn’t fare as well as had hoped because of the recession and an absence of channel partner engagement, it’s hoped that the timing is right for Sandy Bridge once the chipset issue is behind it.
However, Kent Tibbils, vice president of marketing at US-based system builder ASI, which resells Intel’s Atom products, disagreed with Intel executives’ assessment of Clarkdale and Arrandale’s performance in the market.
“I think that saying Sandy Bridge has been successful doesn’t mean that Clarkdale or Arrandale were not,” Tibbils said. “They were, in fact, very successful in terms of generating revenue for the channel.”
Atom Faces A Changing Landscape
Beyond those platforms, Intel’s Atom platform may have been victimised by disruption elsewhere in the market with the introduction of tablets and other devices, at least one channel executive says.
“In terms of Atom, it’s true that netbook sales fell short of expectations,” said Erik Stromquist, COO of Computer Technology Link, a Portland, US-based solution provider.
“But Atom for us in general notebooks sales dropped off, but with innovative solutions like tablet and touch-enabled convertible devices led to the growth of the Atom product line.”
Yet another perspective within the channel holds that Intel’s new processors include several advantages that could bolster channel sales, and that ultimately it’s up to the channel resellers to offer solutions that will succeed in the marketplace.
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