Mark Hollands
Principal
ITR
Whitebox buying beliefs of Australian SMBs
The Price is . . . Mark Hollands,
Principal
Strategies to Differentiate
The Whitebox Market
What do we mean by ‘whitebox’ 1 Custom-built computer with name-brand internal components 2 Generic computer systems that don't carry any mainstream
brand names 3 Sometimes called clones, not major brands such as IBM, Dell etc.
Research on whitebox in Australia is thin Estimates of Market size
IDC 46% Gartner 44% AMD internal figures - 50+%
We interviewed Small Businesses and Government agencies
To find 100 companies that use whitebox computers, we had to ring 251 organisations
Opportunities & Challenges in the Whitebox Market Competitive Challenge:
Price, Price Price Making brand name computers more affordable Move from PCs to Notebooks Organisations embracing wireless and mobile computing
Differentiation & Advantage
Service, Service Service Customers looking to differentiate beyond price
Flexibility Major attraction to generic brands
‘Whitebox’ incidence among 251 organisations
60
7
22
37
0 20 40 60 80 100
None
Notebooks or laptops
Servers
PCs or workstations
% of Respondents; All Contacts (n=251)
This chart shoes the penetration of whitebox computers among 251
Australian organisations. From this sample, 40% of
organisations are currently running some
whitebox systems.
How common are whitebox computers?
Base: Total Respondents (n=100)
Most are whitebox
18%
Some are whitebox
20%
Very few are whitebox
44%
Don’t know1%All are
whitebox17%
Q.5. Within your organisation, are all of your computers whitebox, most of them, some of them or very few of them?
Business Size: Number of Business Size: Number of EmployeesEmployees
Don’t knowDon’t know
Very few are Very few are WhiteboxWhitebox
Some are Some are WhiteboxWhitebox
Most are Most are WhiteboxWhitebox
All are All are WhiteboxWhitebox
--3%3%--
47%47%42%42%42%42%
18%18%24%24%18%18%
24%24%12%12%18%18%
12%12%18%18%21%21%
100-250100-25020-9920-99>20>20
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Recency of purchasing a whitebox computer
36
17 17
7
22
10
10
20
30
40
50
Within the last 6months
Up to 1 year ago
Up to 2 years ago
Up to 3 years ago
More than 3
years ago
Don’t know
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts (
n=
10
0)
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Purchase within the last year = 53%
Purchase within the last 3 years = 77%
30
2624
12
6 7
0
10
20
30
40
50
A local computershop (not a chain
store)
Direct from localassembler (e.g.Soltek, Optima,
Compucon)
Computer Distributor Service provider whomaintains and
repairs your systems
A Major retailer Other
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts (
n=1
00)
Where organisations buy whitebox computers?
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Overall satisfaction with whitebox purchase
33
52
33
15
45
42
39
53
13
3
15 21
53
9 3
4 39
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Total(n=100)
< 20 Employees(n=33)
20-99(n=33)
100-250(n=34)
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts
Very Satisfied Satisfied Very Disatisfied
Ambivelant
Perceptions of whitebox computer reliability
Very Reliable Reliable Unreliable Don't know
35354848
3030 2626
5656
4848
6767
5353
8833 33
1818
11 33
0%0%
20%20%
40%40%
60%60%
80%80%
100%100%
TotalTotal(n=100)(n=100)
< 20 Employees< 20 Employees(n=33)(n=33)
20-99 Employees20-99 Employees(n=33)(n=33)
100-250 Employees100-250 Employees(n=34)(n=34)
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts%
of
Resp
on
den
ts
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Are businesses loyal to whitebox vendors?
44
20 22
11
3
0
20
40
60
80
100
Always purchase fromthe same vendor
Mainly purchase from thesame vendor
Use a combination ofvendors
Use different vendorseach time
Don’t know
% o
f Res
pond
ents
(n=
100)
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Do they specify build or rely on advice?
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
57
17 16
10
0
20
40
60
80
100
Components specified Joint effort Leave to Service Provider(who maintains and services
PCs)
Leave to Distributor(who builds PCs)
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts (
n=1
00)
5
1
3
4
4
5
6
8
8
56
0 20 40 60 80 100
Other
Speed of delivery
Local purchase
Customer Service
Not my choice
Support/Maintenance
Reliability/Quality/Guarantee
Performance
Specification
Price
% of Respondents (n=100)
Price is driving organisations to purchase ‘whitebox’…
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Influences on the PC purchasing decision
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
6864
60 5952 52
45 43
21
0
20
40
60
80
100
Support/Maintenance
CustomerService
Specification Price Replacementpolicy
Purchasefrom regulardistributor
Purchasefrom localsupplier
Speed ofdelivery
Brand name
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts (
n=
10
0)
% Highly Important
[Extremely / Very Important]
Influences on the PC purchasing decision
21
43
45
52
52
59
60
64
68
42
48
31
35
38
36
31
29
22
37
9
23
12
10
5
8
6
9
1
1
1
1
1
0 20 40 60 80 100
Brand name
Speed of Delivery
Purchase from local supplier
Replacement Policy
Purchase from reg dist
Price
Specification
Customer Service
Support/ Maintenance
% of Respondents (n=100)
Highly Important {1-2} Moderately Important {3-4} Not Important {1-2} Don't know
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Base: Total Respondents (n=100)Base: Total Respondents (n=100)
Don’t KnowDon’t Know7%7%
More expensiveMore expensive1%1%
No difference in No difference in priceprice24%24%
Less expensiveLess expensive68%68%
Perceptions of whitebox computer prices
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Are brand-name systems preferred over whitebox?
Base: Total Respondents (n=100)Base: Total Respondents (n=100)
YesYes56%56%
Don’t KnowDon’t Know5%5%
NoNo39%39%
Reasons for brand-name system preference
38% Better Customer Service
27% Better Warranty/Guarantee
27% Trusted Brand Names
21% Reliability
9% Maintenance and Support
9% Quality/Better Product/Performance
20% Other
Processor Preference
Base: Total Respondents (n=100)Base: Total Respondents (n=100)
OtherOther5%5%
AMDAMD2%2%
No preferenceNo preference34%34%
Intel/ Pentium/ P4Intel/ Pentium/ P459%59%
Claimed annual PC spend
9
1720
14
810
3
9 10
0
10
20
30
40
50
Less than$5,000
$5,001-$10,000
$10,001-$20,000
$20,001 -$40,000
$40,001 -$50,000
$50,001 -$70,000
$70,001 -$90,000
$90,000 +Don’t know
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts (
n=
100)
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Average Spend = $36,000
Median Spend = $18,375
Expected trends in PC spend over the next 12 months
Base: Total Respondents (n=100)
No change65%
Don’t know2%Decrease spend
7%
Increase spend26%
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Percentage increase expected over the next 12 months
7474
101055
11 22 33 11 11 3300
2020
4040
6060
8080
100100
No increaseNo increase1-10%1-10% 11-20%11-20% 21%-30%21%-30% 31-40%31-40% 41%-50%41%-50%51%-60%51%-60%More thanMore than100%100%
Don’t Don’t knowknow
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts (
n=
100)
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts (
n=
100)
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Average Increase in PC Spend = 5.86%
Large Company and Govt. agencyDesktop Buying intentions
% Respondents (n=300)
See rating colours
Increase29%
Remain The Same54%
Don't Know1%Decrease
15%
Desktop buying intentions by vertical
3929 27 27 24
4955 54 58
52
12 16 18 1224
1 2
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Health (n=51) Finance & insurance(n=49)
Manufacturing (n=95) Government (n=84) Utilities (n=21)
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts
Increase Remain The Same Decrease Don't Know
Average desktop spend increase
‘Average % spend increase’
22.9019.77 18.70
16.18 16.12
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
Utilities Manufacturing Health Finance &Industry
Government
% o
f Res
pond
ents
(n=3
00)
Notebook Buying Intentions
% Respondents (n=300)
See rating colours
Increase37%
Remain The Same46%
Don't Know1%Decrease
16%
67
41 3932 32
19
3949
51 51
1420
1217 14
1 2
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Utilities Health Finance & insurance Manufacturing Government
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts
Increase Remain The Same Decrease Don't Know
Norebook buying intentions by vertical
Average notebook spend increase
‘Average % spend increase’
23.7620.77 19.18 19.07 18.32
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
Health Government Finance &Industry
Manufacturing Utilities
% o
f Res
pond
ents
(n=3
00)
Back to the White Box
community . . .
Likelihood of vendor loyalty through price guarantee
44443333
55554444
1414
1515
991818
42425151
3636 3838
0%0%
20%20%
40%40%
60%60%
80%80%
100%100%
TotalTotal(n=100)(n=100)
< 20 Employees< 20 Employees(n=33)(n=33)
20-99 Employees20-99 Employees(n=33)(n=33)
100-250 Employees100-250 Employees(n=34)(n=34)
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts%
of
Resp
on
den
ts
Total likelyTotal likely Total UnlikelyTotal UnlikelyDon't know/Makes no difference to meDon't know/Makes no difference to me
Usage of the Internet to purchase
Base: Total Respondents (n=100)
Don’t Know5%
No47%
Yes48%
Q.14 Have you or someone in your organisation used the Internet to purchase a “whitebox”
computer for the organisation?
Q.14a. Would you consider using the Internet to purchase “whitebox” computer in the future?
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Base: Total Respondents (n=100)
No87%
Yes13%
Interest in on-site PC evaluation
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Base: Total Respondents (n=100)
No48%
Don’t Know4%
Yes48%
Importance of PC disposal policy
126
1812
36
30
33 44
5161
48 44
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Total(n=100)
< 20 Employees(n=33)
20-99 Employees(n=33)
100-250 Employees(n=34)
% o
f R
esp
on
den
ts (
n=1
00)
Highly Important Moderately Important Not Important
Base: Organisations with ‘whitebox’ computers
Meeting new challenges
Exploit flexibility and expertise 57% spec their own systems 17% want help Specs are 2nd highest criteria for buyer
Price Key competitive advantage in this market -
don’t lose sight of that!don’t lose sight of that! 39% would go to brand name if budget permitted 44% want price guarantee - only 7% say ‘no’
Emphasise support Brands do badly here, especially cheaper end Lay-out strong replacement policy & on-site
evaluation (48% want this service)
Meeting new challenges
Market still spending PC growth projected at 10+% 1:4 say they will increase spend 65% to maintain spend Only 7% to decrease
Loyalty weak - no ‘80-20 Rule’ 52% buy from regular distributor 45% from local supplier Increase marketing in niche / SMB areas to exploit
lack of loyalty Strategise offers aimed at loyalty - eg price
guarantee etc. Exploit lack of brand value equity of competitors
Drive Internet purchase Take cost out of your own business to keep prices low