Quote Originally Posted by Deluded View Post
I understand if you can't share anymore data/info, but I'm not getting it (somewhat) from this post... You're telling us that it's not so easy as just slapping on a IHS with a different name and some die marking that would make it identify it to CPU-Z as a xxx processor rather than a Opty? For something as simple as rebranding you have to go through a whole cycle of testing and development?
So, let's take an Opteron and make it a Phenom. Pretty simple, just flip the bit in the CPUID, it's done, right?

Well, here is all of the other stuff that has to happen (even with the exact same design - think Shanghai and Phenom):

1. Forecasting/biz opps - someone has to understand the market and decided how many to make and where to sell them.
2. Program management - You have to manage the development even though it is the same silicon.
3. Software development - believe it or not, you need people to make sure the products do what you want it to do under your OS.
4. Testing - Yes, you have different test procedures for server and desktop (I don't care if you can't run world of warcraft on my processors)
5. Inventory - I have to put them in a different location in the warehouse and handle them differently because they have a different name on them. I have to mark and fuse them, so once I do that there is some amount of excess/obsolete that I have to expect (and after 4x4....)
6. Marketing - if we build it they won't come, we need to tell them about it.
7. Partner support - you will have to go out and support this with all of your partners, both design in and sales out.
8. Advertising - Remember when someone complained that we don't advertise? Well, this crowd seems to think it is important, so toss that on there.
9. Sales - If we are going to build it we will have to sell it. Selling this is additional effort that takes away from sales productivity (nothing magically appears at Newegg on its own).
10. Support - once people buy it they will have questions. I am guessing that you will want them answered.


Then, of course, you will need new testers. Those are hundreds of thousands of dollars. You can't really run them through the server testers because ours are for different platforms.

1-5 are the really expensive things. All of that would need to happen if you have a different CPUID (i.e. new brand).

6-10 are the things we have to do if you expect us to actually sell the parts. But don't assume that they are cheap.

Testers are hardware, that is a major capital expense.

On average, the cost to do a new product (not counting design) typically has a $5M or so price tag. That is why you need volume. Remember that everything that is different requires a new process and requires us to handle things differently. And that adds cost.