Intel brand not worth that much - AMD

At least that's the opinion of rival chip maker AMD which today claimed that new research shows buyers don't care who makes the system's brains, as long as they're fast.

Research conducted by Intelliquest on behalf of AMD concludes that processor speed and PC brand are the most important criteria. 78 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses said processor speed was more important than brand. Price, configuration and support were seen as more important elements and the only areas where Intelliquest found brand loyalty to be strong related to the PC vendor itself.

"The research shows that [buyers] will make their buying decision on the total package and not on whether one [PC] has the 'Intel Inside' sticker," said Robert Stead, European marketing manager for AMD's computation products group.