Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul Engel who wrote (74308)	2/23/1999 6:53:00 AM
From: puborectalis	Respond to of 186894

February 22, 1999 Intel Case May Be Expanding Filed at 8:36 p.m. EST By Mary Mosquera for TechWeb, CMPnet A long list of witnesses from Intel and the government indicates the Federal Trade Commission may be expanding its case and Intel is stepping up to the plate to accept the challenge. The FTC says Intel used its monopoly in microprocessors to deny three of its customers and potential competitors access to technical information needed to develop products based on Intel's chips. Intel says it was within its rights to withhold data because of pending patent-infringement suits brought by computer workstation maker Intergraph and Digital Equipment -- which was later bought by Compaq. The trial begins March 9. "It's a little bit of a stretch to bring antitrust into this dispute," said Jeffrey Shohet, antitrust attorney and managing partner of Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, based in Palo Alto, Calif. Intel said it must compete with aggressive companies, such as Advanced Micro Devices. The FTC said it agrees there is competition in low-end chips, but the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company monopolizes the high-end serving corporate networks. Antitrust laws generally don't cover competitive harm in partial markets, said Shohet. "Most courts that have addressed a premium market in antitrust say there is no premium market under law," said Shohet, citing a case against Haagen-Dazs, which had 80 percent of the premium ice-cream market, but a smaller piece of the total frozen confection market. The ice-cream maker was accused of abusing its power in the high-end market, but the court concluded there was no such thing as a premium market. "If the FTC prevails, if you have a contract and have market power, you will be limited in your rights and obligations under contract," he said. It will be unique and not very applicable to other cases, he added. The expanded number of witnesses is an indication that the FTC focus is shifting, said William Kovacic, an antitrust professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. When the FTC slapped Intel with the suit in June, it was principally looking at its relationships with Intergraph, Digital, and Compaq. Its chief concern was that Intel was using its dominance to suppress innovation by major customers by forcing them to submit their intellectual property. The government's expansion of its antitrust case is similar to the pattern in the Microsoft case, Kovacic said. "The case the government brought is not what it is now," he said. What the FTC may try to prove about Intel could be a variance on the Microsoft theme -- that the chip maker pressured its partners." Intel's policies of requiring customer companies to surrender ideas may have the net effect of discouraging innovation in the first place, Kovacic said. "Intel absorbs the intellectual property of its customers like a vacuum cleaner. Intel gets the benefit of everything the client has done, which ensures Intel doesn't fall behind the client." The government may be considering whether some computer makers enhance Intel's microprocessor with their own features, in effect distracting the end user from looking for one thing only -- Intel Inside, Kovacic said. "Intel wants its chip to be the overriding reason why customers buy a computer," he said. "Intel doesn't want the significance of its microprocess to be diminished because then they may have to charge less for it." (c) 1999 CMP Media Inc.

To: Paul Engel who wrote (74308)	2/23/1999 10:49:00 AM
From: IVAN1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Threat to Intel?? Saw the annoucement below. Any thoughts, Paul. Sorry if this has already been dealt with. haven't seen it. Thanks in advance. Ivan 1 IBM Announces System-In-A-Chip Advance LONDON (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) announced Monday an advance in semiconductor technology that would allow entire electronic systems to be built on to a single semiconductor chip. The so-called system-on-a-chip technology will enhance the performance of many electronic products -- including personal computers and mobile phones -- while also making the products both smaller and less expensive. IBM, the world's biggest computer maker, said in a statement that it had found a way to put both logic and memory circuits on a single piece of silicon. Logic circuits process information and memory circuits store information, and both are used together to add ''intelligence'' to electronic products. ''Until now, having processing power and data on separate chips was like having the materials you need to do the job in another office,'' Bijan Davari, vice president of development for the IBM Microelectronics Division, said in the statement.