Cross Channel: Intel Continues PC Retreat, Samsung Beats Apple In UK Phone Sales

Welcome to Cross Channel, a weekly round up of the most pertinent stories from our sister site ChannelBiz, where you can find out all the latest developments, views and strategies from the world of the channel.

Intel reveals continuing dash from PC market

In a new filing from Intel this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Intel has admitted it may be moving further away from the PC faster than previously thought.

Explaining the company’s future strategy, Intel wrote how it’s changing from “a PC company to one that powers the cloud and billions of smart, connected computing devices”.

Intel described a “Virtuous Cycle of Growth” that will swap a waning PC market for a ballooning data centre and IoT market.

“As more ‘things and devices’ become smart and connected to the cloud, there is greater demand for data centres to not only connect these devices, but also to capture and analyse the data they create,” said Intel.

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Samsung is beating Apple in UK phone market says vendor

The Apple-Samsung smartphone power struggle is “starting to tip in Samsung’s favour”, says a leading UK phone contract supplier.

Mobile Phones Direct says that over the past year, Samsung has knocked Apple from a 54 percent share of sales to 41 percent.

This has lead to Samsung, for the first time, outselling Apple phones.

The new Samsung Galaxy Note 7 will be released in the UK on 2 September, to help shore up Samsung phone sales further. But the iPhone 7 launch will follow soon after in September too.

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Amazon slammed by ASA for ‘misleading’ delivery charges

Amazon has been dragged over the coals for “misleading” delivery charges by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The ASA has ordered the e-tailer to clarify its delivery charges for individual products after it found that customers were being “misled”. A customer complained to the regulatory body about an item that appeared to be eligible for free delivery.

A listing said an item at £18.49 was eligible for free delivery, but the product page stated “free delivery in the UK on orders over £20”.

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SAP ups channel sales focus with Cloud Choice profit model

SAP has widened its channel focus with the introduction of SAP PartnerEdge Cloud Choice. The new profit model will enable SAP partners to “accelerate cloud sales, profit from selling in the cloud and deliver digital solutions to help businesses run live”, said the supplier.

The move is part of the company’s strategy to accelerate cloud adoption among partners, which is a target for most other major business software providers, including Microsoft, IBM and Oracle.

“The new model will help partners who have concentrated on traditional on-premise solutions — as well as new partners — to establish and maintain a profitable cloud business,” said SAP.

“Partners should now be able to realise a steady revenue stream that’s locked in for the life of the customer and partner relationship,” it added.

The profit option of SAP PartnerEdge Cloud Choice allows partners to choose how they want to engage with SAP based on their individual capabilities, resources and expertise. The option eases the transition from on-premise to cloud environments.

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