AMD seeks more damages from Intel
 

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Advanced Micro Devices Inc. furthered its antitrust fight against Intel Corp Thursday, filing two claims in Japan seeking about $50 million in damages from alleged violations of the country's antimonopoly act.

The claims filed in Tokyo High Court and Tokyo District Court by AMD Japan against Intel K.K. stem from findings made by the Japan Fair Trade Commission, which found on March 8 that Intel's Japan unit interfered with AMD's activities there, according to AMD.

Specifically, Japan's competition authority concluded that Intel provided large amounts of funds to PC manufacturers NEC, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Sony and Hitachi in return for not buying AMD processors, AMD said.

AMD, a distant second to Intel in PC chip market share, claims it lost all its business to Toshiba, Sony and Hitachi in Japan, while sales to NEC and Fujitsu fell sharply. Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, did not dispute the findings of the Japan Fair Trade Commission.

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" did not dispute the findings "

silence = agreement:)

AMD Japan Files Claim for Damages Arising from Violations of Japan's Antimonopoly Act Against Intel K.K. in Tokyo High Court and Tokyo District Court

AMD Japan Seeks to Restore Fair and Open Competition for the Japan PC and Server Marketplace

TOKYO, Jun 30, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- AMD Japan (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, David M. Uze, President and Representative Director) today filed two claims against Intel Corporation's Japanese subsidiary, Intel K.K., in the Tokyo High Court and the Tokyo District Court for damages arising from violations of Japan's Antimonopoly Act.

The suit in the Tokyo High Court seeks USD50 million (approx. 5.5 billion yen) in damages, following on the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC)'s findings in its March 8, 2005 Recommendation that Intel K.K. committed violations of the Antimonopoly Act. The JFTC Recommendation concluded that Intel K.K. interfered with AMD Japan's business activities by providing large amounts of funds to five Japanese PC manufacturers (NEC, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Sony, and Hitachi) on the condition that they refuse to purchase AMD processors. As a result of these illegal acts, AMD Japan suffered serious damages, losing all of its sales to Toshiba, Sony, and Hitachi, while sales to NEC and Fujitsu also fell precipitously. The suit in the Tokyo High Court follows Intel K.K.'s acceptance of the JFTC Recommendation. In accepting the Recommendation, Intel K.K. did not dispute the JFTC findings.

An additional suit filed at the Tokyo District Court level seeks to recover millions of dollars in damages for various anticompetitive acts in addition to what is covered in the scope of the JFTC Recommendation. These anticompetitive acts also had the effect of interfering with AMD Japan's right to engage in normal business and marketing activities.

In the complaint, AMD Japan points to the following specific examples of anticompetitive actions taken by Intel:

-- Instructing a Japanese PC manufacturer to remove from its product catalog and Internet website all computer models using processors made by AMD, in exchange for providing a large amount of funds to that manufacturer;

-- Putting pressure on an AMD customer that was scheduled to attend a new product launch of AMD products. The customer eventually had to cancel its attendance at the new product launch;

-- Interfering with a joint promotional event being held by AMD and a customer to promote PCs using a new processor developed by AMD. Just before the promotional event was scheduled to take place, Intel purchased all the PCs that had AMD processors and replaced them with PCs using Intel processors. Intel K.K. provided a large amount of funds to this customer as an incentive to cooperate in this last-minute interference.

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, the parent of AMD Japan, also filed suit in the United States on June 27, 2005 to stop Intel's illegal business practices.

Intel continues to refuse to acknowledge that its conduct is wrongful. Yet its anticompetitive acts, designed to restrict AMD's market share, clearly constitute an abuse of Intel's dominant position in the processor market.

"These illegal actions have restricted fair competition and narrowed the choices available to consumers in the computer market," said David M. Uze, AMD Japan's president and representative director. "In March of this year, the JFTC clearly found that Intel K.K. violated the law. AMD Japan hopes to bring fair and open competition in the computer marketplace, allowing consumers to have a true choice."

AMD's Position on Fair and Open Competition

AMD stands for fair and open competition and the value and variety competition delivers to the marketplace. Innovative AMD technology allows users to break free to reach new levels of performance, productivity and creativity. Businesses and consumers should have the freedom to choose from a range of competitive products that come from continuous innovation. When market forces work, consumers have choice and everyone wins. For more information, please visit http://www.amd.com/breakfree.

About AMD Japan

AMD Japan is a wholly owned subsidiary of and commissioned sales agent for AMD, Inc. (AMD), which designs and produces innovative microprocessors, Flash memory devices and low-power processor solutions for the computer, communications and consumer electronics industries. AMD is dedicated to delivering standards-based, customer-focused solutions for technology users, ranging from enterprises to government agencies and individual consumers. For more information visit www.amd.com.

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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Oh, this is getting better by the day.

I hope AMD wins.