Intel accused of halving CPU prices to cut out AMD

A JAPANESE web site which claims to have talked to sources close to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), said the chip giant halved the prices of CPUs to keep OEMs in its camp.

The FTC has recently completed an investigation into practices Intel is alleged to have taken in Japan, but it's unclear whether the chip giant will appeal against its findings.

According to The Asahi Shimbun, Intel used three different rebate schemes to keep OEMs from using AMD microprocessors.

Those included "special prices" - a hefty discount on CPUs, an advance discount, and cash payments to OEM described as "development costs", the publication alleges.

Intel cut its prices to match those of AMD's microprocessors, the article continues, with discounts which sometimes reached "several tens of thousands of yen". Details of the deals were regarded as highly confidential.

You can find the article here. The article claims that while Intel may appeal against the FTC ruling, it might be forced to reveal exactly which deals it entered into, and with which manufacturers. µ

* MEANWHILE a number of OEMs interviewed by the INQ at the European System Builder Summit earlier this week said that UK public tenders for systems still show Intel processors being specified for PCs, rather than microprocessors in general. AMD has successfully persuaded several governments around the world to remove references to Intel or Pentium in public tenders.