Intel yesterday launched its next-generation Centrino platform, previously code named "Santa Rosa", in SA.
Although the 'cPro' launch focused on the business space, Intel SA market development manager, Joubert de Lange, expects the platform to do better in the consumer and SME spaces. He says SA is running counter to the global trend to more mobility in the workplace.
Intel itself was 80% desktop in 2000. Today it is 80% notebook, he says. By comparison, notebook penetration in most SA enterprises is still in the single digits. Just a few companies have reached and passed the 10% mark.
Country marketing manager Delia Griggs cites several reasons for this, starting with business culture. She says the perception is laptops are more expensive than desktops, there is some concern about connectivity and there is a preponderance of managers who want to see their staff sitting at their desks.
Joubert disputes the cost perception issue, saying the total cost of ownership gives notebooks the edge, especially when one includes productivity gains. Griggs adds that, although "huge strides" have been made in the last two years to bring down the cost of connectivity while increasing coverage and performance, SA is "still way behind in wireless freedom". Also, SA is still somewhat conservative and suffering from a "very office-bound culture".
Cost-cutting tool
"Managers like to see their employees at their desks," she adds, which to them obviates the need for notebooks. SME owners, by contrast, are more modern in thinking, often because they are more inclined to virtualise their offices to save on overheads and avoid the traffic.
Intel SA business solutions specialist Vince Resente says cPro integrates seamlessly with vPro, allowing network administrators to "discover, heal and protect" notebooks the same way as vPro desktops, whether by wire or radio and regardless of the notebook's power status or the health of its operating system.
Resente says this will literally allow support from anywhere on the planet to everywhere else. Maintenance contractors interviewed by Intel in preparation of the launch see the technology as a major cost-cutting tool and expect it to dramatically reduce the need and number of desk-side visits.
Griggs expects volume shipment of the Centrino Pro to reach SA's shores within the next six weeks. Centrino Duo, the consumer model, will arrive en masse in the retail space from end June.
Related stories:
Intel updates Centrino hardware
Is desktop doomed?
Share