AMD sues Intel; says rival coerces PC makers to get inside
In a move that's sure to bring up many a fond memory of the Microsoft antitrust battles from a few years back, AMD is suing Intel under the premise that the chip giant uses coercive tactics to stop customers from buying AMD processors. Uh, AMD's just now getting clued into this? According to the complaint, most of the major PC players — including Dell, Compaq and Sony — have been victims of Intel's coercion (we assume they didn't twist Steve Jobs' arm, though). Some of the specific charges include claims that after Sony was paid off, AMD's share of Sony's processor business dropped from 23% in 2002 to zero today. How this will play out is anybody's guess; Microsoft, we recall, got a slap on the wrist from the U.S. Department of Justice. But a judge sympathetic to AMD's case could theoretically hit Intel hard.
