AMD launches Power Packs

With a motive of reviving its box PC market, AMD is launching multiple processor packaging called AMD Power Packs at a discounted price. The first of the series would be the A8 6600K APU and Athlon X4 760K CPU. This will be available in six packs from August 25, 2014. The future series will also include 10 packs.

"We want to revive the small systems builder market which addresses the SOHO and small business segment. To encourage the system builders to buy six packs, we will be offering discounts of between four and six percent per processor," said Chandrahas Panigrahi, director, Channels, AMD India. The six packs would have six processors along with six heat sinks.

Panigrahi said that with online market cannibalizing brick and mortar retail for notebooks, many resellers are returning to system building. "This is a new trend, and we want to capitalize on the channel sentiments. We will work to ensure that they are profitable, and are confident that the move will revive the desktop market over the next few months."

AMD has laid its bet on the AM1 platform, which Panigrahi says has received considerable traction especially in Class B- and C- cities. With motherboards priced as low as Rs 1,750, system builders are able to price a dual core desktop as low as Rs 9,000, and quad core desktop at Rs 10,500 without monitor and operating system.

The system builder market which used to account for more than 50% of the market 5 years back is projected to be less than 17% of the PC market in India according to research firms Gartner and IDC.

AMD has also announced plans to ship SSDs targeting gaming market under the AMD Radeon brand. AMD Radeon R7 Series SSDs will be available in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities. The company is manufacturing the products with support from OCZ, which was earlier acquired by Toshiba.