Rumours promoting tray processors emerge in SA market

Gray marketers in SA have embarked on a new marketing ploy - telling their customers that the only Intel Pentium II 400Mhz processors available in the country are being imported in trays, as opposed to Intel boxes. The reality, however, could not be further from the truth.

"If you have recently bought a processor that did not arrive shrink-wrapped in an Intel box, your product is definitely gray," says Alex Morse, processor product manager at Intel distributor AXiZ. "Rumours have been abounding that Intel is no longer producing boxed Pentium II 400Mhz processors, and that the only way to get them is in tray format."

She points out, however, that the opposite is true - Intel only supplies its processors to the reseller channel in boxed format. The only companies in the world who receive tray processors are OEMs; in SA, the only company who gets processors in this way is Mustek for its own range of PCs.

Processors that have been taken from a tray are often resold to the reseller channel wrapped in sheets of polystyrene, or are merely put into a plastic bag. Any processor bought in this way will not be under Intel`s three-year limited warranty, and is at risk of being faulty, as it does not have the physical protection of cushioning supports found in official boxed product.

"There was a recent shortage of Pentium II 400Mhz processors in the channel, but this has now been resolved and we have the product in stock," says Morse. "If your supplier tells you that you will not be able to get them in boxed format, then be aware that the processor you are purchasing is definitely gray - and that puts you at risk of buying a remark, which have recently been found on the gray market in SA."