EMEA channel
Also present during our interview was Darren Grasby, who heads up the component channel for AMD in the EMEA region, and AMD's tireless EMEA channel PR manager Christine Brown. Grasby elaborated in AMD's new approach in his area. "It goes back to aligning with the winners," said Grasby. "The catchphrase in AMD is: ‘pick your partners, pick your winners, and align with them'.
"Now that doesn't mean we're cutting people off, but it does mean that we've analysed the customers that we want to work with, the best way to get a message to the market and how to spend the money in the market. There are a lot of people that think more is better, but I'm not in that camp.
"In EMEA our supply chain to market was convoluted; there wasn't a common theme across all the different countries. Granted: there are a lot of differences between countries, but at the end of the day it's about getting the product to market and selling it in the most effective way.
"That means working with partners that make money by selling it, but are also prepared to invest in AMD, and that's pretty much a lot of the change we've been going through. In the past AMD hasn't been very good at knowing its customers."
For more about Grasby's views on the European channel, here's a video he shot back in May.
