For the industry at large, it's tough to label the past year. But for Intel, it's perfectly clear: 2003 was the year of Centrino.

Evidence of the massive marketing budget for Centrino, the controversial mobile brand that bundles Pentium M processors with Intel's own chip sets and Wi-Fi modules, was everywhere. Centrino was all over the TV as well as in prominently placed print and Internet ads.

Now that the year is over, was the campaign worthwhile? To put it another way, if you were Craig Barrett, would you do it all over again? Would you give the nod to invest more than $250 million in the Centrino brand?

On the one hand, it is clear that the funds have elevated the awareness of wireless-and in doing so, accelerated market growth. TechKnowledge, for example, was one of the most bullish around on 2003 WLAN silicon shipments. And as it turns out, we underestimated the market.

But appreciation for wireless networking was only one of Intel's goals. Another, more critical goal is to build appreciation for truly mobile computers: high-performance systems that are lightweight, cool-running and miserly on battery life.

Reinjecting premiums

In other words, Intel wanted to reinject premiums into mobile-processor prices.

On that score, the Centrino marketing campaign hasn't made much of an impact-yet. Notebook growth is still outpacing the desktop. But desktop replacements-big-and-heavies that sacrifice battery life for performance and features-are still leading the charge.

Ironically, I think the Centrino campaign has helped to foster desktop replacement sales. The ads boost awareness of mobile computing. But when Generation S'ers ("S" stands for SUV) get to the store, they swoon for the big-screened, feature-laden heavyweights.

I do believe Centrino will shift buying habits toward the truly mobile systems Intel wants us to buy-one day. Wireless will help. Just a few trips lugging a 9-pound system to the coffee shop should help the average desktop replacer understand that chiropractic adjustments are part of the cost of ownership.

So was the Centrino campaign effective? It depends on your horizon. If Barrett wanted a home run this year, then it failed. But if he saw the campaign as the first phase of a long-term scheme to change buying patterns, then he's well on his way.

Mike Feibus is principal analyst at TechKnowledge Strategies Inc., a market research firm in Scottsdale, Ariz., that focuses on components for mobile systems. Reach him at mike@techknowledgegroup.com.