Processors Toolkit

AMD, and why the $100 PC is inevitable

John G. Spooner CNET News

Published: 28 Apr 2005 12:40 BST

A $100 laptop?
Yes.

When it comes to the competition, was the Japanese FTC's ruling against Intel a victory for AMD?
I think the important thing in Japan is it's a victory for the customer and the consumer. More than anything else it tried to eliminate any impediment to free and open competition.

We would hope that we can see the elimination of those impediments throughout the world, not just in Japan.

So Intel is doing the same thing in other markets?
We believe that the practices that they have been accused of doing in Japan and the evidence that was found by the FTC in Japan is probably indicative and a proxy of the way they operate around the world.

Do you think they use the Intel Inside campaign to keep OEMs on the hook?
There are some things that are not allowed when you're a monopoly, and they're pretty clearly spelled out. Although there are slight variances from one place to another, they're all pretty clear in terms of holding someone hostage to a monopoly. I think those things need to change.

Then AMD isn't planning to do something like Intel Inside?
No. We prefer to be on our customers' side rather than on the inside.

Are acquisitions something you're looking at?
I do think there's an opportunity for us to complement our x86 architecture. The possibility of either acquiring or doing things like that with some companies is something we'll consider.