Computer Life survey finds Intel's reputation tarnished by flaw handling, but buyers unfazed.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 22, 1994--While Intel finally bowed to mounting industry pressure and announced plans to offer a "no questions asked return policy" on its flawed Pentium chip this week, a new survey, commissioned by Computer Life magazine, reveals that buyers in the consumer marketplace are unfazed by the imperfect chip.

The survey, released Thursday, discovered that all of the negative news surrounding the tabulating flaws of the Pentium chip has had negligible impact on consumers' current or future decision on whether to purchase a Pentium-based personal computer. Computer Life magazine, the leading special interest consumer magazine about personal computing, reports that consumers who plan to buy a personal computer and are aware of the flaw are not likely to change their purchases of personal computers as a result of the flaw.

In fact, six out of 10 people polled who plan to buy a personal computer in the next year, and are aware of the flaw in Intel's Pentium chip, are not likely to change purchase plans as a result of the flawed chip.

While the flaw in Intel's Pentium chip is not likely to alter the survey respondent's computer purchasing plans, those respondents who had heard of the problem were undecided about Intel's handling of the situation. Thirty-seven percent approved of Intel's handling, 31 percent disapproved, and 32 percent had no opinion. However, 45 percent of those planning to buy a PC this year did approve of Intel's handling of the situation.

While it appears that buying plans remain unchanged, 41 percent of respondents agreed that Intel didn't make people aware of the flaw in a timely manner and a greater number of respondents, 47 percent, thought that Intel was more concerned with their reputation than their customers. Over four in 10 respondents also agreed that Intel underestimated the perceived public impact of the faulty chip and that Intel did not make the public aware of the flaw in a timely manner.

John Dickinson, editor in chief at Computer Life, said, "The calm and composed consumer marketplace reaction to the flawed Pentium chip is not surprising since the defect predominately affects more of the business and scientific related tasks that are not commonly performed by the majority of home computer users."

The Computer Life survey represents the findings of a telephone survey conducted among a random sampling of 1,005 adults -- 503 men and 502 women, 18 years of age and older -- living in private households in the continental United States. (The sample of 1,005 adults has a plus or minus 2 percent margin of error.) Interviewing for this survey occurred during the period of Dec. 15-18, 1994, by Opinion Research Corp.

Computer Life is the monthly magazine aimed at meeting the information needs of individuals who have made computing part of their personal lives, by presenting ideas, techniques, and products that enable them to enrich their personal computing experiences.

Computer Life has a paid circulation of 350,000 and is published by the Consumer Media Group, a division of Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. In addition to Computer Life, the Consumer Media Group also publishes FamilyPC in a joint venture with the Walt Disney Co., Computer Gaming World and Personal Computing.

Ziff-Davis is the largest computer publisher in the United States and the most successful publisher of computer magazines in the world.

For additional information on the role of the Pentium chip in consumer purchasing decisions, and the opportunity to interview John Dickinson, editor-in-chief, Computer Life, contact Nancy Tamosaitis, at 212/876-8951.

CONTACT: Computer Life

             Nancy Tamosaitis, 212/876-8951
             Laura Beraut, 415/357-5215