Intel walks a think line with US FTC
The battle between graphic chips giants Intel, AMD and nVidia continues in the $12billion market, with Intel coming out as the super giant. Intel has an 80% share of the world’s CPU market and as such is at the short end of a lot of anti-monopoly suits.
In November, Intel paid AMD $1.25 billion in an out-of-court settlement thus ending a 12 year legal battle. In May, the European Commission billed Intel a similar $1.2billion figure, and in June of last year, Intel had to pay up $26 million to the South Korean government for it’s anti-competition practices.
The battle against Intel is now being pressed by nVidia and the US Federal Trade Commission, with the former standing to make the most out of it. As of last week, Intel’s shares had already dipped 2% while Nvidia’s rose 7%. AMD too saw a 6% rise even though the company isn’t directly involved in the latest tussle.
Apparently the heat on Intel increased last year when the company came out with it’s latest line of graphics chips. And let’s face it, Intel deserves the heat. The company fuels the world of computing with its CPU and offers computer manufacturers discounts if they buy these CPUs along with Intel graphics chips. In Korea, the issue was that Intel was offering rebates to manufacturers who opted for Intel chips over AMD.
What does this mean for you, netbook-owner?
Well, netbooks primarily come with Intel shitty graphics. nVidia is making early ripples in this market with it’s ION chip, and AMD & ATI are barely making a dent with their chips. If nVidia gets an edge in this battle, we may be able to benefit with better netbook graphics, perhaps at a more affordable price… If not, we’re stuck with the same ol’ same ol’ Intel GMA lines. I predict the later will happen – everyone knows how long court cases can take.
In the meanwhile, keep an eye out for the INTEL Pine View line of processors that promise better graphics performance.
IBTimes article on the recent FTC introspection
Business Week article providing general overview of Intel’s brush with the laws
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Filed under: Netbooks