Enterprise Aim

Micron woos corporations with desktops, notebooks, new leasing strategy

By Bob Francis

irect PC vendor Micron Electronics Inc. this week will step up its efforts to win corporate customers with a new desktop and a new notebook lineup. The products include Pentium-based desktops with built-in networking and management features, and a notebook based on Intel's new Tillamook microprocessor, also due to be announced this week.

Micron, best known for direct sales to small businesses and consumers, has designs on the enterprise market. It recently acquired server vendor NetFrame Systems Inc., and corporate and government sales now account for about 30% of its total sales, says Micron chairman Joseph Daltoso. "We want to spell out that we offer a solid product and a good value to the corporate customer," he says.

The Nampa, Idaho, vendor is also working on a leasing program that will make it easier for users to move to new generations of technology. "We're going to offer some different end points for the lease, not just based on the calendar, but on changes in technology," says Daltoso. "If some new technology is available that our customers want, they don't have to wait until their contract is up to move to the new technology."

Micron's new ClientPro MRE desktop will start at $1,749 for a 200-MHz Pentium microprocessor with MMX, 32 Mbytes of RAM, and a 2.1-Gbyte disk drive. The slightly lower-priced ClientPro VXE starts at $1,449 and includes a 166-MHz Pentium processor with MMX, 16 Mbytes of RAM, and a 2.1-Gbyte hard drive.

Micron also is introducing a notebook, the XKE, with Intel's Tillamook notebook microprocessor. The XKE is designed for the desktop-replacement market, and will include options for 12.1- and 13.3-inch dual-scan a nd active-matrix screens. Micron has not yet set pricing.

Micron's attempt to increase corporate sales follows the stellar success of Dell Computer, and efforts by another direct PC vendor, Gateway 2000 Inc., to ramp up sales to businesses. Dell recently reported that its quarterly sales leaped 66%, year over year, an increase largely attributed to strong corporate sales.

Micron and Gateway have "Dell envy," says Roger Kay, an analyst with International Data Corp., a market research firm in Framingham, Mass. "Dell's success is pretty unprecedented," he says. But "Dell didn't just start making sales to corporations yesterday-this was the culmination of a long-term strategy,'' he adds.

Daltoso says Micron is also committed: "We're in this for the long haul," he says. "Dell has proven that direct vendors can be a solid supplier to the corporate market."

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