RE: Restraint of trade?
Intel customers challenge its technology - WSJ
Reuters, Friday, September 04, 1998 at 03:55
NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Three of Intel Corp.'s
(NASDAQ:INTC) biggest customers are challenging the chip giant's
influence over a key piece of technology within the personal
computer, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ), Hewlett-Packard Co.
and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) have created
a new design for circuitry that could double the speed of data
movement within a PC, people familar with the matter said,
according to the Journal.
The companies are trying to persuade Intel to endorse the
concept, in place of a technology Intel is developing that they
fear could require royalty payments to the big semiconductor
company, the paper said.
Intel's popular microprocessors give it huge influence over
the way PCs are designed, and the company now sets standards
that dictate how other important components are designed,
according to the report.
The companies' proposal is a rare instance of the customer
taking the initiative from the powerful supplier, the report
said. If the proposal catches hold, the new technology could
give the three companies an edge over rivals such as Dell
Computer Corp., which has been grabbing market share in
personal computers and also in more-powerful machines called
servers, the report said.
or nyc.equities.newsroom@reuters.com))
Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service |
