Seagate ST98823A Whitebooks: An Imperative Opportunity (187K, PDF) - Page 3

Whitebooks: An Imperative Opportunity System builders selling whitebooks derive several benefits from these efforts: • Reduced inventory • Faster customer service • Simplified component sourcing Break the Price and Profitability Barrier hardware and were often much harder to access. Now, most notebook chassis allow access to internals through the back panel instead of under the keyboard. With these improvements, local system builders now can capitalize on their natural advantage in providing servicing and support: Large integrators can create and benefit from economies of scale that make it impossible for system builders to compete directly on price, especially at lower price bands. However, more than 60 percent of notebook sales are greater than US$1000, providing system builders the opportunity to realize higher margins by upselling faster CPUs, larger hard disk drives, more memory and other customizations. With consistent availability of standardized, interchangeable components made available through Intel's CBB and VBI programs, system builders can cost-effectively custom-configure offerings for vertical markets. System builders can improve margins by offering desirable upsells, such as high-capacity, 7200-RPM drives or new hybrid drives that boost performance with the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. Drives that feature FDE (full disk encryption) are also a profitable upsell to vertical markets that demand best-in-class data security, such as government, healthcare and financial services. • Faster on-site service, with spare batteries and barebones in stock. • Data kept locally, as opposed to being shipped to some far-off facility. • Value-added upgrades and extended warranties. Break the Brand Barrier Although many consumers are accustomed to branded notebooks, an opportunity exists to offer the same highly customized solutions, paired with local service and support that helped system builders succeed with whitebox systems. System builders can differentiate their mobile solutions by offering customized configurations to vertical markets. For example, government, healthcare and financial sector clients will be interested in full disk encryption that protects sensitive data, while gaming enthusiasts will be interested in innovative redundant array of independent disk (RAID) memory for notebooks. Break the Warranties and Support Barrier Moreover, institutional customers-government, healthcare and education-have traditionally Local system builders can provide faster service focused on overall value rather than brand, and turnaround times than large integrators because these customers are beginning to require part of their geography and close relationship with interchangeability in bids. Most large integrators customers, but poor component availability still sell proprietary batteries and AC adapters, and serviceability kept system builders from but whitebooks built with parts verified under capitalizing on those advantages. Now, Seagate, Intel's CBB program will be able to meet those Intel and other component vendors are working interchangeability requirements. together to resolve those issues. Read more about how system builders can win Seagate already offers an industry-leading against large integrators by targeting vertical 5-year limited warranty on its hard drives. markets in the related Seagate white paper, Key And now, as part of the VBI program, Intel Strategies for Succeeding in the Whitebook assumes technical support and warranty service Market, TP561. responsibilities for qualified barebone notebooks on behalf of device manufacturers. For technical Strategic Importance of Mobile Computing support, resellers can call the same number they do today for boxed Intel products. The desktop replacement trend is still ongoing. As notebooks increase computing performance, Other improvements make whitebooks more boast larger screens and provide ample storage serviceable. Before Intel CBB standards existed, for data and applications, notebooks are not 3 components required different mounting just supplementing desktop systems. Rather,