Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • PC Hardware

    Morphing MicronPC

    By
    eWEEK EDITORS
    -
    January 6, 2003
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      MicronPC LLCs announcement in mid-December to change its name to MPC Computers by June is the latest step in the companys long journey back to its roots as a bona fide PC maker. After parent company Micron Electronics Inc. divested itself of the computer division in 2001 to focus on hosted services, executives within MicronPC hunkered down, determined to prove to their old bosses—who claimed the PC was dead—wrong. So far, so good. In October last year, the company, which counts on coveted government and education customers as key accounts and is now owned by Gores Technology Group, posted its fourth consecutive quarterly operating profit. eWeek Executive Editor/News Michael R. Zimmerman caught up with MicronPC President and CEO Mike Adkins recently to check on the companys progress and to see what the future holds for the Nampa, Idaho, PC maker.

      eWeek: Is the PC dead?

      Adkins: Absolutely not.

      eWeek: And why not?

      Adkins: Clearly, where weve positioned ourselves is that the hardware and services are both still extremely relevant in the technology industry today. And were about the box.

      eWeek: Help me understand MicronPCs jumps in government business or jump in the reseller channel.

      Adkins: Theres a couple things. One, in terms of what we have seen here in recent quarters, with our growth, I would say its definitely outpaced at least the market or at least what the market industry experts are saying is happening within North America anyway, from an overall growth standpoint. And so I think obviously what weve been able to do is [take] some share within the key segments. And thats definitely an important part of our strategy—as it is with anybody in a market thats slowing down or has slowed down—to look at opportunities where you can actually take share.

      eWeek: And primarily who are you targeting? The obvious targets?

      Adkins: Well, yeah, obviously. Were all going after each other, and theres just a handful of folks out there.

      eWeek: Is it an easy conversation to have with customers? To say, Hey look, HP-Compaq—theyre busy right now. Heres what we can do for you right now.

      Adkins: Yeah, definitely within our target segments its been a very easy conversation to have. … Clearly, we went through a pretty messy transition. The transition itself wasnt messy; getting to the point of actually transitioning the company from a public company to a private company was messy. We lived the era of “the PC is dead”; we were in a position where we couldnt defend ourselves against the competition. We lost customers during that period. What were finding today is—and this is what weve always told people—they have an opportunity to be a big fish in a relatively small pond. Whereas when they go to one of our larger competitors, they typically become a statistic. So we are really differentiating ourselves on a personalized level of service that has typically been reserved for the very large corporations and pushing that down into the marketplace.

      eWeek: Micron ships PCs with AMD and Intel chips, so youre not as rabid a loyalist as some other OEMs. But [AMDs]Clawhammer is different. There doesnt seem to be a great deal of support yet from OEMs. Will AMD catch a break with Micron?

      Adkins: Theres actually a couple of different questions there. With respect to [whether] we [are] sensitive to alignment, I would say that first and foremost, we think competition is healthy. And clearly when you look at the lions share of our volume today, its on the Intel side. But at the same point in time, I feel like we would be doing our customers a disservice if we werent offering them a choice. And if the choice is between Intel and AMD, I dont want us deciding necessarily that thats the right thing for someone to do. Id rather have our customers tell us what to do. But again, we have relationships with both, of course, but our lions share is still Intel today. With respect to the technology itself, were going to rely pretty heavily on the technology developing toward receiving customer acceptance, and once that happens—when and if that happens—then clearly it would be something wed make available to our customers.

      eWeek: But youre not going to come out and say, Were going to put it in a box as soon as its ready.

      Adkins: Not necessarily. Most of what weve done with AMD of late has been on the Millennium side of the product line; we havent done anything with AMD on the ClientPro side.

      eWeek: Are customers asking for 64-bit computing?

      Adkins: In the space that were at today, yes, there are some asking about it more from a road map perspective, but certainly nobodys beating down the door today saying theyve got to have it.

      eWeek: Do customers request Intel over AMD?

      Adkins: By and large, people are still saying Intel today.

      eWeek: Why is there this perception that going with AMD is going out on a limb?

      Adkins: Because its the technology race. Basically you have a horse race going on right now. When you look at the segments that we participate in … for our customers, they would love nothing more [than] the platform they buy today, theyd like to be able to buy that same platform a year from now. And because of whats happening from a technology standpoint, theyre finding themselves in a situation, and its very difficult to provide revision control to that degree that far out into the future.

      eWeek: Are you talking 64-bit?

      Adkins: Sixty-four-bit or just the CPU speed race. Nobodys beating on those guys, either one of them, to do what theyre doing. I think there is a tremendous marketing message for either one of them to take the platform of [fighting for] stability and manageability over the long term. And were not going to continue to force you to change your environment. But its a lot easier said than done.

      eWEEK EDITORS
      eWeek editors publish top thought leaders and leading experts in emerging technology across a wide variety of Enterprise B2B sectors. Our focus is providing actionable information for today’s technology decision makers.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×