In a bid to take a firm grip on the Russian assembly market as local manufacturers start to purchase their first Pentium processors in serious volumes, Intel Corp has announced a programme of price breaks and improved marketing and technical support for its Russian OEM customers. We believe the time has come in the Russian computer industry when we can help a number of computer companies and perhaps produce the Escom or Vobis of Russia, said Steve Poole, general manager of Intel Europe. Kicking off a programme that will run into next year, Poole said Russian OEM customers buying direct from the company will now get better prices for the same volumes as they purchased in the past. In addition, Intel is now able to offer Russian computer makers a more stable supply of chips and new products at the same time as any similar-sized customers in Western Europe. In order to help them compete with foreign imports, Poole said, they will also get early access to reference platforms, improved information support, subsidised training, and the right to participate in joint marketing campaigns, including the Intel Inside programme. Poole declined to give any details on the size of discounts offered. Already using the programme are assembly companies VIST and R-Style. According to research company BIS Strategic Decisions, VIST assembled the more personal computers than any other assembler in Russia last year. Deputy Director of VIST, Alexander Rapaport, predicted that his company would sell 15,000 Pentium-based personal computers by the end of 1995. To demonstrate the benefits of Intel’s new programme, he said VIST now offers a 120MHz Pentium-based personal computer. The agreement with VIST, Russia’s largest computer maker, was signed only in April. As such, the deal represents a major coup for the company over Advanced Micro Devices Inc. The VIST account is worth around $2m per month in processor sales, and it represents around 10% of the entire Russian assembly market.
