Non-intelligent marketing
AMD's VP of product marketing, Leslie Sobon, has blasted Intel for confusing consumers with techno-babble and processor puzzlement.
Sobon declared there was a balance to be struck between telling Joe Average about the technology in new devices whilst also reassuring them they didn't need to understand every detail of the smorgasbord of speeds and feeds advertised on the various stickers anointing it.
Intel, she said, was guilty of making the processor "hero above all else" with its Intel Inside marketing campaign, whilst mainstream consumers didn't even rank processors in their top-ten list of important notebook features.
"Intel has spent lots of money with Intel Inside... and making that matter above all else," she said, adding "It may be working for Intel but it's not working for anyone else, including the OEMs."
Sobon said OEMs had found it more effective to market notebook features and user applications than the processors inside, and that Intel with its stickers was simply confusing matters and befuddling the mainstream buyers.
"Intel is continuing to market like it's 1995," she grumbled, noting that consumers were "not into the fluff-crap marketing stuff, but they do want to know there's real technology behind it."
"We lead with usages first, tech specs second," confirmed AMD's Scott Shutter, senior manager of product marketing.
