Hector Ruiz welcomes Paul Otellini to the world of high-tech processor litigation with a 48-page antitrust lawsuit.
After seeing its market share stay pegged to a minuscule 10 percent of the semiconductor market for the past three years, AMD has sought relief in the US District Court for Delaware. AMD’s suit alleges 38 counts of illegal activity by Intel, including coercion and threats that help Intel maintain its choke-hold on the market.
On a press call, AMD Chief Executive Hector Ruiz said, “Customers deserve freedom of choice and the benefits of innovation — and these have been stolen away in the microprocessor market. Whether through high prices or monopoly profits, fewer choices in the marketplace or barriers to innovation — people from Osaka to Frankfurt to Chicago pay the price in cash everyday for Intel’s monopoly abuses.”
AMD quotes then-Compaq CEO Michael Capellas as saying Intel had ‘a gun to his head’ that prevented him from doing more business with AMD. Intel allegedly withheld critical server chips from Compaq due to its increased business with AMD.
“You don’t have to take our word for it when it comes to Intel’s abuses; the Japanese government condemned Intel for its exclusionary and illegal misconduct,” said Thomas M. McCoy, AMD executive vice president, legal affairs and chief administrative officer.
Japan’s Fair Trade Commission did indeed find fault with Intel’s business conduct, and threatened to fine the company if it did not change certain contract clauses that forced computer makers to spurn other processor manufacturers.
David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
