AMD turns screw on prices to shift kit

CHIP FIRM AMD is making a spirited bid in India to capture market share by offering bundles, sans operating systems, sourced through system integrators.

The cheapest bundle sells for between Rs11,000 to Rs12,000 (around $250-$280) with the firm also offering a "high end system" at Rs22,000 ($500). This system comes with floppy disk and modem, uses an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ and comes with a not so massive 256MB of memory and an 80GB hard drive. It also includes speakers and a DVD combo drive. AMD is majoring on it being Cool'n'Quiet and coolness and silence are highly prized functions in hot India.

The Value PC uses a Sempron 2800+ and again comes with 256MB of DDR2 memory.

AMD's third prong in its bid to shift more chips is a Performance PC at Rs18,000 which comes with an Athlon 64 3000+ and again 256MB of DDR2. The campaign is headed "Made to do digital magic".

These configurations are not cast in stone - the idea is that the system integrators put together machines based on different components so the prices are typical prices. System integrators can legitimately avoid paying 16 per cent value added tax (VAT) by sourcing the components as part of a spec build.

So why no OS? This is a tricky one.

According to channel sources, Microsoft is making a dedicated attempt with the help of its resellers to make sure they bundle Windows with machines. So a reseller may be forced to, say, buy 15-20 per cent of the machines with legit Windows bundled.

If resellers fail to play ball, they may well get a visit from the Processor Police, backed up with firepower (no, really) and get themselves an instant fine for non compliance.

This is Microsoft's attempt to woo the Indian channel, no doubt.