AMD Withdraw KitGuru's Fury X Sample over "negative stance towards AMD" (Updated with response from AMD)

[VMaxMuffin]

Source: http://www.kitguru.net/site-news/announcements/zardon/amd-withdraw-kitguru-fury-x-sample-over-negative-content/

 

I find this to be really disappointing, and I don't think I really need to explain why. The article title pretty much says it all.

 

A few key quotes from the article:

 

She (Christine Browne, Senior Manager of EMEA Communications - who called KitGuru) said that with limited product they wanted to focus on giving the samples to publications that are ‘more positive’ about AMD as a brand, and company.

 

I (Allan Campbell) will continue to try and work with AMD if I can, however I simply cannot let any company or corporation try and dictate or change our independent ability to cover news, or to share our opinions – even if this means losing product support for big hardware launches such as this.

 

If we become unable to share our genuine views and opinions out of fear of a company withdrawing product samples then I see no point in being here at all. 

 

Will LTT still be getting an AMD sample? Linus has said a lot of negative things about AMD lately.

 

I also wonder what this could mean about the Fury X. We've seen some leaked benchmarks that have seen it performing well agaist the 980Ti and Titan X, but if AMD are worried about people who have been making negative comments about AMD receiving a card - could it mean it doesn't actually perform that well? I find that hard to believe, but then again I find the article itself hard to believe.

 

 

UPDATE:

 

eTeknix has published their own article about this, after reaching out for comment from AMD.

 

Source: http://www.eteknix.com/things-go-from-bad-to-worse-for-reviews-of-amd-radeon-fury-x/

 

This article contains a couple of interesting pieces of information. Firstly, there's this:

 

 

 

the Fury X will only have 10 samples for the whole of the EU. This may not sound too bad, but when you consider the scope of our industry, from print magazines, YouTube reviews and the wide range of enthusiast technology sites that span this region, it’s barely enough to scratch the surface. It’s certainly not what you would expect of a flagship product, of which you would normally expect a big set of reviews and testing to entice consumers into a purchase.

 

They then move on to comment on the KitGuru situation, talk about journalistic freedom and so on, and say that while they knew they'd at least not be getting a sample in the first one, it is apparent they probably won't be recieving a Fury X at all.

 

They reached out to Christine Brown (AMD's Senior Manager of EMEA Communications, as mentioned previously) and recieved the following response:

 

 

 

I’m sorry to say that AMD is generally reducing the press events we host, invitee numbers for any events, sampling numbers, etc. Our decisions are based on a number of factors that I’m unable to go into. However I can only assure you that we will involve you in events and sampling when we feel it is appropriate and we are able. With regards to specific sampling of Fiji, I’m afraid our current allocation means we will not be able to sample you prior to launch. I realize this may not be the response you were hoping for but I can only reiterate that we will keep sharing information and more when we can.

 

They also reachded out to Corporate VP and General Manager of EMEA, Darren Grasby, and got a very similar response:

 

 

 

Thanks for getting in touch. I appreciate all the support you’ve given us both in the past and moving forward. As I think the team have explained, there are a number of factors behind the planning for our launches and unfortunately that sometimes means we’re unable to accommodate every request, as much as we’d like to. I’m sorry to say that AMD is generally reducing the press events we host, invitee numbers for any events, sampling numbers, etc. Our decisions are based on a number of factors that I’m unable to go into. However I can only assure you that we will involve you in events and sampling when we feel it is appropriate and we are able.

 

All of this "reducing numbers" is a little worrying for me, it seems like the sign of general cost cutting, which in turn could be the sign of a struggling company.

[Albatross]

lol

 

Childish.

[blu4]

When it comes outs we'll see why Kitguru got smacked by team red.

[ShadowCaptain]

oh dear >< this doesn't bode well

[Nexxus]

AMD really needs to stop sobbing over anything and everything.

[ZetZet]

This now makes them look even worse. If you are proud of your product you would be eager to prove them wrong.

[deviant88]

Lisa Su stupid will bury AMD... Intel/Nvidia are bigger, more cunning and annoying than AMD or anyone else and they never withdraw samples because of the opinion of the reviewer.

[The_Strict_Nein]

This makes every single launch day review of the Fury X pointless.

[Swndlr]

LOL

If AMD starts to take away sample privileges from REVIEWERS for saying negative things about their products, then honestly, theyre just digging a deeper hole then theyre already in.

 

Ill just leave this here -

 

re·view·er

rəˈvyo͞oər/

noun

noun: reviewer; plural noun: reviewers

1. a person who writes critical appraisals of books, plays, movies, etc., for publication.

   synonyms: critic, commentator, judge, observer, pundit, analyst

   "a restaurant reviewer for the local paper"

   • a person who formally assesses or examines something with a view to changing it if necessary.

     "a rent reviewer"

 

 

Update response -

I love how theyre basically hiding behind a wall right now, theyre probably just realizing what theyre getting themselves into, at this point Id be surprised if they dont see why people are acting the way they are based on what these bozos over at AMD are doing.

 

 

[TheKDub]

Looks like AMD is borrowing quite a few shovels

 

I guess their excavator CPUs (or APUs) can be put to use as well

[Castdeath97]

AMD better fire that manager, seriously AMD please don't start digging....

[That Norwegian Guy]

I don't often read KitGuru, so I don't know much about the background. But normally I'd call this a dick move by AMD.

 

However, I am subscribed to their YouTube channel and have watched a few case reviews, the bald guy is extremely prone to saltiness and unfounded criticisms, maybe the word I'm looking for here is 'elitist'. His Thermaltake Core V21 review sounded extremely sour all the way, nitpicking on everything, complaining about irrelevant above-pricepoint features missing, and then at the end his conclusion was "I really quite like it!" lol.

 

So I don't know, I'm definitely not a fan of the guy's communication skills and consistency, I pretty much only subscribed to him because he did a review on both the Thermaltake Core V21 and the Phanteks Mini XL, which were the two cases I was evaluating and no other channels did both.

 

 

But in the end

 

 

This now makes them look even worse. If you are proud of your product you would be eager to prove them wrong.

 

 

This is true. AMD is not showing faith in their product if they think it wouldn't speak for itself through tests. At the end of the day, the reviewer can sound sour as all balls in a review, but if the card is teabagging the competitor in the benchmarks, it won't matter.

[Castdeath97]

Ohh and please can you include more details in your posts, seems way too summarized. 

[Samfisher]

Looks like AMD is borrowing quite a few shovels

 

I guess their excavator CPUs (or APUs) can be put to use as well

 

Well they already have a Bulldozer and Piledriver, all they need now is a Shovel and a Excavator CPU architecture.  They'll be set to dig a hole, fill it up, destroy it and dig another hole.

[JefferyD90]

this is childish on kit guru's part. He sounds like a baby.

[Samfisher]

this is childish on kit guru's part. He sounds like a baby.

 

Which department at AMD do you work at?

[dimitriianghelov]

isn't Kitguru a rumour website? , how do we know this is true ?

 

they can always buy one and review it

[Dzzope]

This makes every single launch day review of the Fury X pointless.

Only if it was supplied by AMD...

 

 

More worryingly is the impression that they don't have enough working samples to go round, never mind to fill supply chains...

 

Will this be 290 / 7970 all over again with MONTHS passing before there is a readily available supply.

 

 

If this is true (what he has quoted her as saying and this isn't just click-bait) it's a huge blunder on AMD's marketing

[GlassBomb]

If we become unable to share our genuine views and opinions out of fear of a company withdrawing product samples then I see no point in being here at all.

 

Amen to that.

[david cassar]

Well they already have a Bulldozer and Piledriver, all they need now is a Shovel and a Excavator CPU architecture.  They'll be set to dig a hole, fill it up, destroy it and dig another hole.

you made my day hahahaha

[f22luke]

Kitguru had a very negative video on their site about rebran and AMD cpus being worthless etc if AMD is scraping together enough cards for a launch it only makes sense to screen the reviewers who get free cards. Kitguru admitted one of the reasons was supply which I hope is just with the early review units. I hate product launches that sell out right away.

[Deletive]

AMD really needs to stop sobbing over anything and everything.

 

Guess what... that's business. A lot of other business do this. You act just because it's AMD they're being "childish" and such that isn't always the case.  

 

 

Lisa Su stupid will bury AMD... Intel/Nvidia are bigger, more cunning and annoying than AMD or anyone else and they never withdraw samples because of the opinion of the reviewer.

 

Lisa Su is doing better for the company, she is openly more involved with the company on so many aspects. AMD has the right to control who they give their review samples to, it's not a big deal a lot of other companies do it too you know.

 

This makes every single launch day review of the Fury X pointless.

I'm sorry did every other review on other websites become biased now? No they didn't, look at all those other graphics cards. They can still buy the cards. Just because AMD sent them a review sample doesn't mean they just completely sold out to AMD. Negativity is something this industry needs less of.

 

AMD better fire that manager, seriously AMD please don't start digging....

Comsumers should stop complaining, AMD has every right to do what they did. They're going to probably keep that manager because who would have known it. He's doing his job. 

[stconquest]

It all depends on what Kitguru said.  If it was a proper critique, that is bad of AMD.  If it was a bashing to skew AMD's image, why not pull that one reviewer.  People tend to believe stuff on the internet (or anywhere), even if it is not true, when it enforces their personal beliefs... people like to be right.  IF a reviewer is dishonest about a product/line, I don't see why a company should deal with them.  I mean there are plenty of other reviewers so getting the tech specs out will not be a problem.

 

I don't see this as AMD trying to squeeze out the critique of their GPU line (*cough APPLE), but I could be wrong.  The numbers are coming whether AMD likes it or not... they know this.

 

I think there might be more to this, that is what I am saying.

[PineappleHolidays]

We don't know what the review would have said, and we only have his point of view.

 

Maybe let's not explode over this ?

[bogus]

People are mixing alot of shit, fueled by the usual hate train... So here we go :

If they, reviewers, are independent because they base their analysis on facts... Then why the fuck are they following rumours and come to social media to cry because they made such uninformed decision? I'm talking about PCPer and Kitguru, Linus just told his community in his own forum that he didn't receive a sample.

AMD didn't forbid anyone from doing reviews, they probably just pushed some people down the list, with their reasons.

Next time maybe such if reviewers are afraid that independent reviews are at risk because they didn't get to see a card before everyone else, and profit from such content... they should just make a phone call, instead of bitching.

They are so factual in some shit, but in other's they just drop logic.