AMD Japan Files Claims Against Intel in Japan

[Steve]

Just three days after filing an antitrust complaint against Intel in the U.S., AMD are throwing more punches, this time in the direction of Intel K.K., Intel's Japanese subsidiary.

AMD has filed a claim for damages in the Tokyo High Court and District Court over Intel K.K.'s violations of Japan's Antimonopoly Act. In March, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) recommended that Intel K.K. had violated the Antimonopoloy Act and that they had hindered AMD Japan's business by providing funds to the likes of NEC, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Sony, and Hitachi to keep them from buying AMD chips.

As a result of Intel K.K.'s actions and the subsequent findings by the JFTC, AMD Japan is seeking US$50 million in damages through their suit filed in the High Court. Another suit filed with the District Court seeks to claim yet more in damages, but for alleged anticompetitive acts not referenced by the JFTC's recommendation. These include providing funds in exchange for the removal of AMD products from a PC manufacturer's catalogue, pressuring AMD customers to not attend certain AMD events and interfering with promotional events.

AMD's strongly worded press release suggests there may be more to come.

These acts represent only the tip of the iceberg of Intel’s worldwide coercion of customers to prevent them from doing business with AMD Japan.

AMD's battle with Intel in the courts around the World is likely to stretch out for a long time. The amount of money that both companies could potentially pour into this is huge. We'll have to sit back and enjoy the ride while this all pans out. One has to wonder what will happen if AMD fail in their legal battle against Intel, and if they do win on at least some fronts, what the consequences will be for Intel.

One thing is for sure. AMD is tired of being the underdog and is setting the wheels of change in motion with as big a fanfare as possible.

[Dougal]

I remember that I could never find a good brand K6 board and a lot of the early K7 boards were made by the cheapo manufacturers. Or big manufacturers but under a subsidary (Similar to the ASRock/Asus relationship)

The thing is that I would have thought that AMD would be happy just having the indivdual builders buying. Esp considering that they can sell at a higher price (Due to lower quantities) and in the current market the demand for more specialist machines is increasing.

[Steve]

AMD has come a long way since the K6 days. They have some quality server chips as well as consumer products. However, if they are to grow, they need support from the big OEMs like Dell (who are Intel exclusive right now, of course.)

Also, look it another way. If AMD kick up enough of a fuss, it won't just be enthusiasts and channel folk talking about it. You might even get the public referring to "that company suing Intel."

[Dougal]

Lol, maybe we can get an AMD jingle!

I have seen rumours of an 8 way opteron setup from Tyan at the Trade shows, but would like to see them for real

[unrealuniverse]

i think Kez may be right in that AMD need to get the manufacturers in order to increase their market share. This legal arguement may be enough to make some of the manufacturers think, hey theres another company making processors. It may also mean that processors will fall in price.

AMD has really come on since the first athlons appeared around 1998-9 and is now a very viable alternative to intel's pentium 4 on every level.

[mjswooosh]

...I'm not sure if anyone that has posted yet has any clue whatsoever about the way that the processor market works, but let's put it this way: OEM sales comprise 88% of revenues for Intel & AMD combined. That means that roughly 12% of the revenues are made up of users like us who build our own computers. What does this mean? AMD has essentially hit its limit with regards to non-OEM sales. In order to increase their overall market share they absolutely NEED to capture more of the OEM market. To one former poster, NO company is EVER going to be "satisfied" being a distant second in any market, especially when they actually make a noticably superior product line. AMD deserves a fair chance to expand their market share in the OEM market. This barrage of lawsuits is designed to show that Intel hasn't been fighting fair. Which, to be honest, most anyone with half a brain has understood this for several years. It's no secret within the industry that Intel has conducted itself in a strongly anti-competitive manner for at least a decade. This lawsuit is designed to let the courts know too. Its timed perfectly. Hopefully the result in the US will follow the Japanese decision. Intel makes good products, but their business model is sorely lacking in ethics. Its about time someone put them in their place. If it doesn't happen now in the US it probably never will.