In a 63-page document filed in US District Court in Delaware, Intel emphatically denies having a monopoly on PC microprocessors and locking out AMD from deals with computer manufacturers through threats and targeted rebates. In its lawsuit filed in June, AMD claims that Intel imposed scare tactics and coercion on 38 companies, including large-scale computer makers, small system builders, wholesale distributors and retailers.
But Santa Clara, California-based Intel asserts that it has achieved its larger market share through sustained investments in research and manufacturing. Intel's discounts and marketing deals with PC makers, the company added, help consumers by keeping PC prices low.
Intel said it also benefited from AMD's strategic errors. AMD didn't invest as heavily as it should have in manufacturing capacity in the early part of the decade, whereas Intel did, the company said, and is reaping benefits. AMD didn't pursue notebooks as aggressively as Intel, and thus missed out on the current surge in sales, Intel alleged.
In a jab at AMD CEO Hector Ruiz, Intel noted that Ruiz recently said his company "is in the strongest position that we've ever been in." AMD's complaint, however, states that AMD is at risk of becoming "non-viable" because of Intel's conduct.
In its answer, Intel refutes that claim. "AMD seeks to impede Intel's ability to lower prices and thereby allow AMD to charge higher prices," the company says. "AMD's colourful language and fanciful claims cannot obscure AMD's goal of shielding AMD from price competition."
But the parts of the document that will likely draw the most attention are nuggets that shed light on how the PC business operates and that seem calculated to undermine AMD's credibility. The he said/she said nature of the lawsuit, as well as questions about which side can provide evidence to prove their points, have become pivotal to the case.
Intel and AMD's long history of competing for microprocessor dominance has landed them in court before.
In its answer to the latest antitrust allegations, Intel references a 1992 ruling in which an arbitrator awarded AMD US$10 million.
Intel admits that it paid the US$10 million, but added that the amount paid was less than 1 percent of the original claim. The answer also states that the arbitrator in that case wrote that AMD was "victimised by its own inability to adjust what it knew to be in reality."
"AMD assumes a somewhat romanticised factual situation which, like Camelot, never existed," the arbitrator wrote, according to Intel's response to the most recent complaint.
The transcript from the 1992 arbitration remains under seal, an Intel spokesman said. Intel quoted from it because AMD has made the 1992 arbitration an issue in the case. AMD could not be reached at press time for comment.
Later, in a 1995 legal settlement between the two companies, Intel noted that AMD left out the terms of the settlement in its complaint. In the settlement, AMD paid US$58 million to Intel in licensing fees. Overall, Intel netted US$19 million from that settlement, an Intel spokesman said.
In another section of the answer, Intel says Sony dropped AMD processors from its PC lineup in 2003 in an effort to reduce the number of component suppliers and not, as the complaint asserts, in a contract that demanded Sony exclusively use Intel chips.
Dixon's, a retail chain in England, has already denied being penalised by Intel, according to Intel's response.
In the complaint, AMD asserts that Intel intimidated MSI and Atipa and Fujitsu-Siemens from participating in the launch of AMD's Opteron Chip on April 22, 2003. Intel says in its answer that Atipa and MSI put out press releases outlining their support for Opteron on or around the same day and that Fujitsu-Siemens sells Opteron servers.
The complaint asserted that then Intel CEO Craig Barrett said Acer would suffer "severe consequences" if the company participated in the launch of AMD's Athlon 64 chip, according to Acer founder Stan Shih. The answer says that Shih has refuted the assertions, stating that the conversation with Barrett only dealt with industry trends. The answer also noted that Acer continues to use AMD chips.
In its complaint, AMD asserted that Intel prevented it from joining the Advanced DRAM Technology group, a group working on a new memory standard, in a meaningful way. Intel says the organisation invited AMD to join as a "co-developer," the highest level of membership. Intel further added that the ADT fell apart without producing a standard.
These sorts of complex claims and counterclaims often arise in legal complaints and responses. Many dissolve after the discovery process, which has not yet started in this case.
Perhaps the biggest omission in the answer was that Intel did not directly refute AMD's allegations that got the most attention when the complaint was filed -- that some PC execs said Intel "had a gun to (the execs') head" and that Intel threatened to pound them into "guacamole." Instead, Intel said it couldn't determine the factual basis of those allegations at the time and denied them on that basis.
Irrespective of any of the bantering going on here, I personally will not support Intel or their products.
As a avid AMD Fan, I clearly can attest to have a more stable and productive PC since using AMD processors. While customers and friends who have intel products suffer from problem with overheating, crashes and the like.
As for pricing, I would pay more for AMD products they are high quality and deserve more market share.
Intel should be worried, becuase the truth will prevail.