John Paczkowski

Recent Posts by John Paczkowski

I Love the Smell of Schadenfreude in the Morning, Smells Like…

amdeu

You know things are bad at AMD when the company’s schadenfreude over Intel’s European legal woes spills over into its brand messaging. Surf over to AMD’s Web site this morning and you’ll find foremost on its homepage not a message about Fusion, its next-generation microprocessor design, or branding for its various chips, but a gigantic European Union flag flying over this text:

“European Commission finds Intel guilty of breaking antitrust laws, harming consumers.”

Click through and you’ll find an entire subsite celebrating the EC’s finding–a shrine of court documents, press releases and industry quotes. “European Commission Reveals the Truth About Intel,” the page shouts, cataloging AMD’s grievances against the company. And while that’s apparently the case, AMD’s response reveals a bit of truth about AMD. Gloating over a legal victory is one thing, but building a branding campaign around it is another one entirely. Moral superiority is wonderful, but it’s not going to win any battles in the marketplace.

For AMD (AMD) to beat Intel (INTC) at its own game, it must beat Intel at its own game. “Imagine a world where the world’s most important information technology only comes from one place,” AMD President and CEO Dirk Meyer recently told BusinessWeek. “Nobody wants to live in that world.” No, I suppose not. But if we’re going to live in the better one the Meyer is hinting at, AMD has got to build it. Talking about it as your company continues to struggle toward profitability after more than two years of losses, isn’t going to cut it.

Twitter’s Tanking

December 30, 2013 at 6:49 am PT

2013 Was a Good Year for Chromebooks

December 29, 2013 at 2:12 pm PT

BlackBerry Pulls Latest Twitter for BB10 Update

December 29, 2013 at 5:58 am PT

Apple CEO Tim Cook Made $4.25 Million This Year

December 28, 2013 at 12:05 pm PT

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Nobody was excited about paying top dollar for a movie about WikiLeaks. A film about the origins of Pets.com would have done better.

— Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com comments on the dreadful opening weekend box office numbers for “The Fifth Estate.”