One of Intel's top channel executives says notebook sales through the custom builder channel are showing triple-digit growth this year, while the migration to 64-bit computing could spark brisk server sales for the channel in 2004.
Steve Dallman, director of North American channels for Intel, Santa Clara, Calif., also told systems builders attending an Intel channel conference that the company would provide a boost to its channel logistics by opening a new fulfillment center in Los Angeles to ship components to them.
"I think that means we can take a week to ten days" of inventory out of the channel pipeline by adding the logistics site, Dallman said. Currently that effort is operated out of Malaysia.
"That means they can carry a week to ten days less inventory," Dallman said in an interview after speaking with systems builders. "That means their credit lines can all go up 25 percent. By improving logistics by a week, you can essentially raise your channel's credit limit by 25 percent, incurring no risk or no additional cost to anyone. That's a big deal."
The new facility in Los Angeles should be operational by June or July, Dallman said. It will focus on providing motherboards and CPUs on a timelier basis to distributors, who will then ship them to white-box builders.
