Case Name :      Cilkray Graphics

Authors :           Frank V. Cespedes, Alisa Zalosh

Source :             HBS Brief Cases

Case ID :           916512

Discipline :        Marketing

Case Length :    10 pages

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

Marcus Crosby, President of Cilkray Graphics, convened an emergency meeting with Cilkray’s senior managers in order to respond to an unexpected development. Cilkray sold three lines of specialized graphics processing units (GPUs). Each line targeted a segment of the professional market for Hosted Virtual Desktops (HVDs). Grovex, Cilkray’s key competitor, had just announced the impending launch of the GSpeed, a new GPU. It said that the GSpeed would exceed the performance of competitive products, including Cilkray’s most advanced product line, the CP3000. Industry rumors suggested that the GSpeed’s price would be 20% to 30% below that of the CP3000. Crosby and his team saw two options. Cilkray could drop the CP3000’s price immediately. It could also delay its planned release of its new CK300, scheduled for December 2013, in order to make its products more competitive. Crosby and his team had to decide what Cilkray should do next.