AFTER gaining the distinction of becoming the first AMD original equipment manufacturer in the Philippines, Miko Computer Corp. is now setting its sights on launching an innovative electronic commerce solution for its customers.

Miko recently announced its support for the world's first seventh-generation PC processor, the AMD Athlon. The Athlon processor is an x86-compatible, seventh-generation design featuring a super-pipelined, nine-issue superscalar microarchitecture optimized for high clock frequency. Having gained this feather in its cap, Miko is now looking at e-commerce for its clients.

"Once you're a customer, we'll build a website for you," said Miko Valerio, the company's founder. "You don't have to pay for anything. You'll have a secure password so that you'll be the only one who can access the site, which would have services customized to your needs. You will have access to the latest prices updated online, and we'll be able to disseminate all information through e-mail and the website. The site itself will be self-sustaining. For example, one of our big customers is Isuzu Philippines Corp. Just imagine other suppliers who would like to advertise on their site."

Miko's site is at www.mikocomputers.com.

According to Valerio, the beauty of the e-commerce site is that Miko could give different prices for specific customers depending on the volume of business they generate. Companies who click on their site would also be assured that the information is always relevant to their needs, without having to maintain and update the site themselves.

He said that this kind of business-to-business e-commerce transaction is particularly suited to Miko since it does not focus on just selling the PC itself but in making it part of the total solutions and service it offers. He also cited the limitations of Internet credit card transactions for selling branded PCs to consumers.

"I don't know if people realize that for e-commerce in the Philippines, you usually can't get more than P20, 000 from your credit card at a time. What can you buy with that? Only a generic PC. And if you're going to get that, then why buy on the web at all? You might as well walk into a store in Greenhills or Binondo," he said.

Valerio added that Miko plans to launch the value-added service by first quarter of next year, as it is already building its web solutions team. Interestingly enough, Intel Microelectronics Philippines Inc. is supporting the Shops.com.ph (www.shops.com.ph) pilot project of the Philippine Internet Commerce Society, which follows the virtual mall concept. The cybermall, which is touted as the country's first true e-commerce site, is scheduled for launch this September. Miko, incidentally, was once the country's top-grossing Genuine Intel Dealer.

Valerio said, however, that this site would not compete with his e-commerce service since Miko's model is business-to-business, focusing on enterprise and small to medium business customers. He added that the problem with computer shops becoming part of a virtual mall is that they end up lowering their prices at cutthroat rates, like what happens in the real world.

While focusing on total solutions, Valerio also claimed that the technology advantage of the latest AMD Athlon processor would be a key selling point. He acknowledged that it is still somewhat difficult to sell AMD-based PCs in the country because of Intel's big market share here and worldwide.

"The challenge is that Intel's marketing campaign is really so darn good. So I educate the customer. Of course, I try not to be biased. What we do, especially with corporate clients, is show them Intel and AMD units so they can compare. The person who's going to use it should be the one to try the PC out," he said.

For the Athlon, Isuzu is the first Philippine company to deploy servers and workstations based on this latest AMD chip, which Valerio dubbed as "faster than the fastest Pentium." Valerio acknowledged, however, that his company's OEM status also means that it must compete in a bigger battlefield.