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AMD Files Antitrust Suit Against Intel (UPDATED)
by , 3:25 PM EDT, June 28th, 2005
AMD on Tuesday announced that it has filed an antitrust complaint against Intel in U.S. federal district court in Delaware accusing the chip maker of unfair trade practices.
The company cited violations of Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, Sections 4 and 16 of the Clayton Act and the California Business and Professions Code. AMD said in a statement that its 48-page complaint details "how Intel has unlawfully maintained its monopoly in the x86 microprocessor market by engaging in worldwide coercion of customers from dealing with AMD."
AMD said that Intel's share of the x86 processor market is 80% by unit volume and 90% by revenue, "giving it entrenched monopoly ownership and super-dominant market power." The chip supplier noted that Japan's Fair Trade Commission recently found that Intel abused its monopoly power, something "Intel did not contest," according to AMD, which said that the European Commission is pursuing similar possible violations.
In its press release, AMD cited a long list of violations, including: "Forcing major customers such as Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Gateway, and Hitachi into Intel-exclusive deals in return for outright cash payments, discriminatory pricing or marketing subsidies conditioned on the exclusion of AMD;" and "Establishing and enforcing quotas among key retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City, effectively requiring them to stock overwhelmingly or exclusively, Intel computers, artificially limiting consumer choice."
AMD said that, for example, "Intel paid Sony millions for exclusivity," with its share of Sony's business dropping from 23% in 2002 to 8% in 2003 to zero percent today. The company also detailed aggressive action against Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, Gateway, Acer and other computer manufacturers, action that it said forced them to severely decrease the amount of business they give to AMD. The company also claimed that "Intel designed its compilers, which translate software programs into machine-readable language, to degrade a program's performance if operated on a computer powered by an AMD microprocessor."
Apple will be switching its computers to Intel processors in a year and complete the transition by the end of 2007, but the company was not mentioned, except in passing in AMD's press release.
UPDATE, 5:35 PM EST: After The Mac Observer posted this article, an Intel spokesperson responded to a request for comment by saying: "We strongly disagree with AMD's complaints about the business practices of Intel and Intel's customers. Intel believes in competing fairly and believes consumers are benefiting from this vigorous competition. AMD has chosen, once again, to complain to a court about Intel's success, with a legal case full of excuses and speculation. Intel will respond appropriately to AMD's latest complaints and is committed to successfully resolving these issues in court."
Observer Comments
Tue Jun 28, 2005 4:35 pm Subject: Re: Headline Error
QuoteAnonymous wrote:
AMD has filed a Complaint to the US Federal Court system. This is not a Law Suit as your headline suggests. This is why Macs and their users suck :p
It says "Antitrust Suit." That may "suggets" lawsuit to you but what is actually SAYS is "Antitrust Suit."
A "suit" literally means "a proceeding in a court of law" which is what this looks like to me.
I wish them well. It would be nice to see a mix of Intel and AMD chips in Apple or Dell products.
Right now companies usually offer more than one brand of video cards in their machines. This results in each company constantly trying to out-do the other so that more people pick their card when configuring a machine.
There's obviously competition between chip-makers, but imagine how fierce it would get if the average consumer could decide which brand they wanted in any computer they purchased.
Tue Jun 28, 2005 5:26 pm Subject: We are not different
We , no well you all use to smash and beat intel to the ground, now...well, you have no choice but to defend them. Wow.........by the way, I said it before and I'll say it again, I love Apple, but I don't quite know what to think of the Zealots.......Also, I am no troll!!!!!!!!!!!!! #%$* RC!!!!!!!!
Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:04 pm Subject: Re: Funny
Quotealeks wrote:
We , no well you all use to smash and beat intel to the ground, now...well, you have no choice but to defend them. Wow.........by the way, I said it before and I'll say it again, I love Apple, but I don't quite know what to think of the Zealots.......Also, I am no troll!!!!!!!!!!!!! #%$* RC!!!!!!!!
Not sure I see anybody on this thread defending Intel. Only pointing out that a suit is just a filing in court.
Personally I don't care what chip is creating heat in the background, only the quality of the OS that it is running. If OSX runs great on Intel-based hardware (or AMD-based) then that is wonderful. It is a "don't care" for me.
[quote="Guest"]Must the US rely on Japan and EU to enforce antitrust laws?/quote]
Given the attitude of the current administration, it's unlikely that the federal government will support, much less attack, such an antitrust suit. Almost as soon as Ashcroft became AG, he told the US attorneys handling the Microsoft suit to go for a lower settlement, which got so watered down that the judge would have rejected it, if possible. The fact that Microsoft gave oodles of money to the Bush campaign didn't have anything to do with this, of course.
Sun Jul 03, 2005 8:24 pm Subject: Re: antitrust
[quote="gslusher"]
QuoteGuest wrote:
Must the US rely on Japan and EU to enforce antitrust laws?/quote]
Given the attitude of the current administration, it's unlikely that the federal government will support, much less attack, such an antitrust suit. Almost as soon as Ashcroft became AG, he told the US attorneys handling the Microsoft suit to go for a lower settlement, which got so watered down that the judge would have rejected it, if possible. The fact that Microsoft gave oodles of money to the Bush campaign didn't have anything to do with this, of course.
Most likely not, since Microsoft gave oodles of money to both the Bush and Kerry campaigns. In fact, the majority of Microsoft PAC money went to Democrats, not Republicans.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,117487,00.asp
Campaign contributions are a matter of public record. Don't assume that the outcome was "bought".
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