Intel Receives FTC Subpoena, Slaps AMD

[Guest]

Intel today said that it has received a subpoena related to its business practices "with respect to competition in the microprocessor market" from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Intel Receives FTC Subpoena, Slaps AMD : Read more

 

[sacre]

It is true. Work hard, you get what you deserve. Intel worked their asses off and now have the market. AMD, you shouldn't have slacked off when you had the X2's.

Maybe you will jump back and maybe this time you'll understand what happens when you slack off.

 

[kansur0]

Is Intel saying that when they were losing market share to AMD's X2 that they weren't doing things to manipulate and entice system makers to buy what they were selling? And now that they have gained back market share because of AMD's "lack of performance" that they no longer need to stoop to unsavory business practices?

That's what I thought they were saying.

 

[Guest]

Intel always had the market, even when their product was inferior. Working hard won't help you if the competition is cheating.

 

[Guest]

And what exactly is an unsavory business practice? aside from threats, last i checked if intel said here have our processors at a lower cost or even promised something else within their contracts that wouldnt be illegal. Advertisments are designed to maipulate and entice there isnt anytone complaining about that, only when they lie about what they are selling. I havent fully researched what intel has been accused of, but either way AMD should have taken a stronger stance against it if it was so damaging to their pathetic market share.

 

[saljr]

How stupid is Intel said that it believes that its business practices are "well within" U.S. law. Bribe:to give somebody money or some other incentive to do something, especially something illegal or dishonest...Now this is not within U.S. or Most country laws. It seems that Intel is afraid ofAMD. I only buy AMD/ATI.

 

[saljr]

How stupid is Intel said that it believes that its business practices are "well within" U.S. law. Bribe:to give somebody money or some other incentive to do something, especially something illegal or dishonest....Is not within U.S. or most country laws. I only buy AMD.

 

[shiznet]

Intel did not do anything wrong. For example what about the coke and restaurant businesses? most fast foods only offer pepsi products only or coca cola products only, and do so because they receive heavy discounts on the coke. How is this different then what Intel chose to do with its Pentium 4? Yes, I agree, AMD could of been so much more, if only they would of done the same.

 

[Guest]

Sounds like a little sour graping. AMD fell into the same trap that Intel did, only they aren't as equipped to handle it so they go to the infamous stand-by of today: If you can't beat 'em... SUE 'em all!

Speaking of tiffs, I expect Intel to respond to Nvidia's shenanigans by using Havok and creating a Physics processor to incorporate into select Westmere or Sandy Bridge Cpus. This would jeopardize the viability Nvidia's acquisition of Ageia's PhysX technology. Then make a license deal with ATI so their cards possess a smoother interface with the new chip for an additional slam on the Green Machine.

 

[Guest]

If you haven't realized this is back in the A64 days when AMD was beating Intel. This has NOTHING to do with current performance of both of the companies chips.

 

[Guest]

The ACCUSATION of bribes is AMDs attempt to discredit Intel. People don't understand what the words Hard Work mean at Intel. I do, because I worked there. It is the hardest working company bar none. The workload is brutal. For one reason. They intend to succeed by trying harder than anyone else. If you simply observe the history of these two companies, the things they have said and done, one thing is clear. INTEL is an honorable company. AMD is not. AMD has been untruthful to customers and shareholders much of their history. They're still promising things they know they can't do. Among their many bad behaviors is this campaign to spew distorted misinformation about Intel, with the hope of stealing thru the courts what they couldn't win honestly in the marketplace. I can understand that they were very frustrated. At the time when AMD had a competitive product they couldn't win market share very easily...but it was more because of their history of subpar quality than the extremely agressive pricing of Intel. Finally, the market worked, and they won share. But then Intel buckled down. And there is NO WAY any other company (except Microsoft) could weather the kind of blistering pace they set. So, don't be fooled. The EU may hand AMD a gift because they're moving toward socialism, and don't believe in raw competition. But AMD doesn't deserve anything here. They're simply not as good as Intel.

 

[fletchoid]

Competition is good, but it should be fair competition. Unfortunately, what is "fair" seems to shift around depending on the power and influence of the competitor. If AMD had not been around to compete with Intel, we would still be stuck with Celeron and Pentium space heaters in our computers. I just hope that AMD can get its act together and come out with CPUs that can compete with Intels new processors, thus keeping the prices down, and the innovation up.

 

[Guest]

The issue at hand here really isn't whose chip is better than whose. The issue is if Intel offered rebates to OEMs to use Intel chips rather than AMD ones. The South Korean FTC has recently found Intel guilty of anti-competitive practices (source: http/www.betanews.com/article/South_Korea_fines_Intel_for_anticompetitive_behavior/1212685989). Intel was offering OEMs chips for cheaper than what Intel could actually produce them for, trying to use their large capital to force AMD out of the market.

 

[Guest]

Can everyone that's not familiar about why this anti-trust case has been put forward not voice their opinion? Please? If this case was about who has/had better gear, then saying AMD is a sore loser because there current hardware isn't up to scratch, would be totally relevant. As it happens, it's nothing to do with that. Note: This case was filed WAY before they released any Barcelona or 65nm related products.

'Been there', I don't think anyone is saying that Intel isn't a hard-working company. Considering it's annual profits and it's products of late, that'd be a hard case to make... BUT it seems like as hard working as Intel is, (if it's proven true) the company also prefers not to have any direct competitors and tries to dispose of them illegally. If they played by the rules, then tough bikkies to AMD. If they didn't, then I hope the FTC gives them the maximum penalty allowed for trying to f**k with competition, ie: innovation.

I am an AMD supporter, because we need them, but I'll happily buy an Intel CPU if I think I can get a better deal on it- it is a buyers market.

 

[Guest]

Why do people naively assume that the technically best product must always be the dominant one in the market place? There are just a few more factors than simple performance in purchasing decisions.

How about supply stability? (Ask the channel about that one after AMD started selling to Dell) How about technical support? How about advertising support? How about platform support? (Which AMD did not have at the time)

The way AMD whines we had the best product therefore we should have had increased market share illustrates EXACTLY what is wrong with AMD. They are an engineering company... there is more to business than simply engineering the best technical product. Until AMD realizes this they will always be a distant second (I think they started to realize this with their purchase of ATI and ther acknowledgement that the ability to sell a turnkey solution was important).

Remember folks best product doesn't always win - if that is their argument then they will lose abysmally.

 

[Guest]

"If AMD had not been around to compete with Intel, we would still be stuck with Celeron and Pentium space heaters in our computers"

Why do people keep saying this (or similar thingsto this). Let's suppose Intel had 100% of all CPU biz - there would be no need to innovate further, right?

Of course not - the only way to grow when you have dominant market share is to grow the OVERALL market (or branch out into new things). If Intel stopped innovating, then businesses and consumers would stop (or slow) their upgrade cycles and Intel's business would drop off. Anyone who says innovation would stop is ignorant to the market aspects. Now the pace of innovation may change, but to say it will dramatically change is absurd - if it slowed to a crawl Intel's profitability would fall precipitously.

 

[Christopher1]

Intel always had the market, even when their product was inferior. Working hard won't help you if the competition is cheating.

Personally, I always thought that Intel was a successful as they were from a combination of hard work AND unsavory business practices, with the combination being about 75-25, respectively.

Remember folks best product doesn't always win - if that is their argument then they will lose abysmally.

Actually, the best product does always win sooner or later, unless there is market manipulation. If AMD can prove that they had the best products on the market at certain times and at the best price/performance ratio, and computer makers and OEM's were STILL giving them the kiss-off...... it makes things look extremely bad for Intel.
If that is the case, I personally would be looking at Intel with the old 'leery eye', wondering what in the world is going on there.

 

[Guest]

AMD is done...they have no hope of catching Intel... The best product always wins in the end. Core 2 Duo blew AMD out of the water and they've never recovered. AMD will always be in the "low end" or "Budget" PCs from now on. ATI has gone down the drain too since AMD bought it.

 

[Ephebus]

Well, I've been with AMD since the Athlon XP, and during the last 2 years I've purchased inferior processors from them for no other reason than to support a company that I admired. But another issue - support related - made me decide that my next processor will be an Intel. Disregard by a company's support staff toward customers is something I just won't accept. In this specific case, AMD has an utility called AMD Power Monitor, which shows the speed and load of each processor core. Of course, there are lots of third-party similar utilities, but I happen to like this one. But then, the last 4 versions of the utility wouldn't show the correct clocks when the processor is overclocked. At every new version release, I would contact AMD's support and get the reply that "they would look into it", till after the latest release and my subsequent contact, someone from AMD's support said it worked OK under his Vista system. I replied saying that a huge number of people - including me - wouldn't touch Vista with a ten-foot pole, and then got no further replies from AMD. So, AMD, go support Vista, make your stuff XP-incompatible, and fare thee well.

 

[Ephebus]

Well, I've been with AMD since the Athlon XP, and during the last 2 years I've purchased inferior processors from them for no other reason than to support a company that I admired. But another issue - support related - made me decide that my next processor will be an Intel. Disregard by a company's support staff toward customers is something I just won't accept. In this specific case, AMD has an utility called AMD Power Monitor, which shows the speed and load of each processor core. Of course, there are lots of third-party similar utilities, but I happen to like this one. But then, the last 4 versions of the utility wouldn't show the correct clocks when the processor is overclocked. At every new version release, I would contact AMD's support and get the reply that "they would look into it", till after the latest release and my subsequent contact, someone from AMD's support said it worked OK under his Vista system. I replied saying that a huge number of people - including me - wouldn't touch Vista with a ten-foot pole, and then got no further replies from AMD. So, AMD, go support Vista, make your stuff XP-incompatible, and fare thee well.