Al Senia: July 2008 Archives

Intel has become the latest global channel company to come out with a relatively optimistic economic forecast. Speaking in Europe, Intel Chairman Craig Barrett said the growth slowdown in the U.S. market isn't spilling over to many other markets or regions

For five years, Philip O'Reilly ran the show as CEO at Solunet, an infrastructure solution provider. Now he's taking on a new job: senior vice president of nterprise sales at networking vendor Juniper Networks.

In another blow to the direct-sales model, Gateway has decided to move all its sales through channel partners. The company, now a subsidiary of Acer, built its reputation on telephone and Internet marketing. However, now it will rely completely on retailers, e-tailers and other channel partners.

Distributor Ingram Micro is the latest channel compaany to report quarterly earnings. While 2Q earnings were strong, thanks to cost-cutting, executives are more cautious moving forward. Sales in North America grew 7 percent last quarter,  thanks mainly to an acquisition and Canada, but Latin America was the real success story.

A senior Microsoft executive, Kevin Johnson, has been tapped to take the help at Juniper Networks. He'll take over from Scott Kriens as CEO in September. Kriens will remain board chairman. One of the first actions Johnson will take on is filling Juniper's still-vacant COO position.

Apple Computer has had a long, and at times stormy, history with the channel. The computer maker is now poised to become the third-largest PC seller in the U.S., behind Hewlett-ackard and Dell. Sales of the Macintosh line are zooming. So what's not to like?

IBM's latest financial report pretty much blew away expectations and raised optimism within channel circles. Global services are IBM's largest revenue generator, increasing 16 percent to $15.2 billion for the quarter.

The latest PC market-share numbers from Gartner show that channel loyalty is paying off as a strategy for Hewlett-Packard, but Dell is narrowing the gap. Dell lost the market-share lead in global PC shipments to HP back in 2006.

Infrastructure software company Symantec's attempt to take more business direct has ignited a firestorm of protest and indignation in the channel and may well stand up as a primer on how NOT to adjust a vendor's sales model.

The continued excitement over Apple's latest iPhone and the speedier Web access it promises (once the kinks get worked out) underscores an important point about the growing smartphone business for the channel: It is reaching critical mass around the world.

Intel Corp. gained market share in the global microprocessor business during Q1, according to new research from iSuppli Corp. Intel had just under 80 percent of the market measured in revenue, up 1.2 percent from the previous quarter.But the company's market share was down 0.7 percent compared to one year ago.

Will private greed once again trump the public good under the Bush Administration? It sure will if some  Republicans get their way over the FCC's proposal to auction a section of spectrum in return for a commitment by the winner to provide free Internet access on a portion of it.

Acquisitions in the channel space continue at a fast pace. The latest involves Avocent, a global provider of IT infrastructure management solutions for enterprise data centers and a strong channel player. The company has completed its acquisition of Touchpaper Group Ltd., a privately held U.K.-based provider of IT management solutions.