It wasn't that many years ago when we first heard the term "whitebox," referring to built-to-order desktop PCs tailored to customers' specific needs and often branded with the systems integrator's house-brand logo. It's happening again, but with notebooks.

The whitebox market took off in the late 1990s when bare-bones systems became available to integrators. In 1999, Toshiba, notebook maker par excellence, jumped in with Toshiba-branded whiteboxes that VARs could easily configure. Though Toshiba is no longer a player in that market, desktop whiteboxes continue to be a strong industry.

About four years ago, whitebox began morphing into "whitebook," generic notebook PCs that solutions providers could configure, like whiteboxes, for customers' specific needs. Intel has programs in place to ensure success.

Desktops and laptops have always been very different. Assembling a viable whitebox desktop system from off-the-shelf components has been easy since the days of the 80486 processor, well before Pentium ever existed. Whether it's video, networking, or other add-in cards or controllers, the physical motherboard slot and interface is the same. RAM could come from different sources each day as market forces moved commodity prices up and down like hog bellies. The same was true for hard drives, optical drives, keyboards, monitors, and other components.

Laptops (does anyone say laptop anymore?) and notebooks are completely different. Designed to squeeze more processing power and storage capacity into ever shrinking spaces -- and to do it without the system melting from its own generated heat -- evolved into a highly proprietary process. Sure, though certain components, primarily hard drive and memory modules are largely standardized, the physical chassis in which they sit still vary widely from one manufacturer to another. Batteries are different. Optical drives may be similar, but the plastic cabinetry trim pieces attached to them are all different.

In other words, in the absence of hardware standardization, the very concept of a whitebook could not exist.

One of Intel's programs, Common Building Blocks, has worked to change that since its 2004 inception. Standardized interchangeability assures that components not only interoperate but can physically co-exist. Among the notebook component types that Intel certifies under the CBB program are LCD screens, keyboards, a.c. adapters, battery packs, optical disk drives, and, of course, the bare-bones chassis into which these all are placed.

The point is that integrators can themselves configure whitebooks or buy them from larger operations that specialize in whitebook assembly. Want to indelibly imprint your customer's logo (or your own) into the notebook's outer cover panel? No problem. As Intel puts it, "customizable notebook panels ... help your notebooks stand out from the competition. Use these panels to promote your own company brand or earn extra revenue by offering a unique, personalized notebook to your customers."

Through its umbrella Verified by Intel program, Intel has brought bare-bones notebook makers and component suppliers together to drive a build-to-order (and all these years I though BTO stood for Bachman-Turner Overdrive) market it believes is ripe for the taking and woefully underserved. Intel even provides a foundation of sales and marketing tools, and perhaps more interestingly, is a clearing house for support and failed component replacement. Essentially, Intel is in the break/fix business.

Are whitebooks for everyone? Certainly not. But if you are losing significant sales and have grown increasingly frustrated as your customers turn to, well, you know who, for notebooks, cutting you out of the revenue stream, whitebooks are where Intel wants you to be. It's certainly worth looking into.

A couple of resources:

Common Building Blocks



Verified by Intel

ITworld.com

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