As Larry points out correctly, the real battleground is for the new design-in.
But that is not only over price, availability, and features.
Whenever the two competitors ( it's mainly the X vs A battle) look equal
or similar, then other factors come in: Previous good ar bad experience
with pricing, quality, and support, both commercially and technically,
hardware and software.
That's why we at Xilinx put a lot of effort into technical support, and
that's why we are so attentive in this ng. The hearts and minds of the
user (customer) can only be won over and then kept by offering and
maintaining a "positive experience".
Nobody is perfect, but we really try...
Peter Alfke
============
Larry Doolittle wrote:
>
> I> Where competition does kick in is for _new_ designs, which
> (duh) involve _new_ parts. Here the competition is, as Peter
> wrote, fierce. "Design wins" are a very big deal to both brand
> A and X. After a brief period of (they hope) high volume,
> high profile success -- part of which is leading-edge cost
> effectiveness from the buyer's perspective -- the business system
> settles down to the operating scenario of the previous paragraph.
> - Larry