That doesn't seem like much of a settlement given the size of INTC and its impact on AMD."
You have to realize that the actual dollar figure is not the most important thing that came out of the agreement. As Tenchu notes, they are not restricted to fabs they own any more. That, and the change in behavior of Intel since the suit was filed means a huge win for AMD.
And AMD either was pretty confident that this would happen, or they made a huge gamble. One of the processors that is coming out in 2011, code name Bobcat, has a fully synthesizable core. What that means is instead of handcrafting each individual transistor(which isn't really the case, but not too far from the truth), the core is described in a high level language that can be used to automatically generate the processor for different fabs and easier to integrate with different functional units. What that means is that they can make different versions of the processor with, say, different video controllers, memory controllers, hardware to control drives and such, easier and quicker than is currently the case. Now if the agreement lets AMD do this for other companies, and AMD manages to actually sell the idea, they could tap a huge market for themselves.
More likely they will figure out some way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but that is a different issue.
Bottom line, the money was the smallest consideration here. |
