Former AMD kingpin gives Intel hell
Derides 'monopolist defense'
AMD's former CEO Hector Ruiz has released a commentary that picks apart Intel's defense against the European Commission's €1.06bn fine for anticompetitve practices.
Ruiz's scathing rebuke, published by MarketWatch, excoriates Chipzilla's efforts to wriggle out of responsibility for the actions that led to the fine - especially in light of the incriminating evidence recently released by the European Competition Commission.
In his commentary, entitled "Intel and the blame game: Time to take responsibility in chip-industry antitrust case," Ruiz writes: "Intel has apparently embraced the advice dispensed by the playwright Oscar Wilde: 'It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you place the blame.'"
Ruiz's argument takes several tacks, chiding Intel for its charges of Commission bias, scolding the company for suppressing evidence, reproving them for disparaging critics - "a typical monopolist defense" according to Ruiz - and saying that Intel's blaming of AMD for its European sales problems "really does twist reality into a pretzel."
Not that Ruiz is without bias. After assuming the positions of president and COO of AMD in 2000, he became CEO in 2002 and headed the company until he stepped aside in 2008.
And he has called Intel to task before, as evidenced by his statement in 2007 when the EU began its investigation of Intel that "This is not an isolated instance," citing similar investigations in Japan and Korea.
Still, Ruiz holds out an olive branch at the end of Wednesday's dressing-down of his former competitor: "Intel has been a global innovation leader in the past," he concedes. "It can be a global innovation leader in the future - but not until Intel's leadership recognizes a simple truth."
That simple truth, from Ruiz's point of view, is that Intel should take responsibility for its actions, and move on.
"The sooner Intel accepts a level of responsibility befitting a company of its scope, legacy and stature," Ruiz writes, "and takes responsibility for its own errors, the sooner that the full benefits of competition will flow, not just to the industry, and not even just to computer manufacturers, but to computer users the world around."
If Intel is playing the blame game, Ruiz is playing the shame game. ®
COMMENTS
This is why...
...I don't buy Intel machines anymore. For years now, I have only purchased AMD computers, CPUs, and motherboards.
Err...
"It is because Intel have made reduced prices to computer firms on the condition that they DO NOT buy any AMD chips ." -- that's called exclusivity and it's a common type of agreement.
If Intel distribuitors felt they were getting a good deal, nobody has a right to force them (or Intel) out of it. Just because the EC may have been legislated such powers, does not make them right.
Attn. deegee
Can you could comprehend what the EU are fining Intel for you would not be making a fool of yourself here.
It is because Intel have made reduced prices to computer firms on the condition that they DO NOT buy any AMD chips .
That is an illegal practice in the civilised world. Not sure if America is still part of the civilised world.
@felixleiter 15:36
It's called big-business.
If you don't like sharks, don't swim in the waters.
Offering "incentives" to sell products is nothing new, and is done everywhere on all types of business levels.
Personally I am tired of all of these big corporations crying that their competition/opponents are outselling them. If they are outselling me, it MUST be anti-trust/monopolizing/evil-empire... waah waah waah
If I could get the gubbment to fine some big company and have them give me a $billion (that I didn't earn), why, I'd be able to do a lot of R&D with that cash as well...
Who loses? The little guy like you and me. Who do you think will pick up that $billion tab? Us, when we end up paying much higher prices for Intel processors.
Loss of revenue impacts R&D
@adi
Surely you're not so naive to believe that Intel's behaviour has no effect on AMD's ability to direct money into R&D?
Companies can only afford to put a percentage of their earnings into R&D, if you can restrict your competitions revenue, eventually their R&D budget shrinks sufficiently that they can't keep up with their competitors technology.
AMD are "whining" because they know that they could have had much more significant resources to spend on R&D and not only be much closer to Intel in the current CPU technology, but given the advantage that they had previously, may have been able to stay ahead for much longer.
