November 15, 2009 - Following years of antitrust and patent disputes, Intel Corp. has agreed to pay Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $1.25 billion.
Under the deal, AMD will withdraw its antitrust complaints against Intel in Europe, the U.S., Japan and South Korea. But the European Union has already issued a ruling that ordered Intel to pay a $1.45 billion fine for "anticompetitive behavior." And in the U.S., there is speculation that the Federal Trade Commission may be close to filing their own case against Intel.
Meanwhile, though Intel still controls about 80% of the microprocessor market, its competitor AMD will get a welcome boost from the settlement money - and from the "oversight provisions that will make it difficult for Intel to violate," according to AMD exec Thomas McCoy.