Intel isn't getting much sympathy from its rivals over the record-setting $1.45 billion fine imposed by the European Commission for alleged noncompetitive practices, and given the heated public exchanges between Intel and Nvidia in recent months, you might assume the GPU maker would be frothing at the mouth to file an antitrust suit of its own. You'd be wrong.
Surprisingly, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said his company has no such plans, as least not right now, though he did complain about Intel's pricing structure for its Atom platform. According to Huang, the price of a standalone Atom chip sits at $45, almost twice as much as Intel charges for a three-chip bundle, which costs $25.
"That seems pretty unfair," Huang said. "We ought to be able to compete and serve that market.
Intel sees it a different way.
"We compete fairly. We do not force bundles on any computer makers and customers can purchase Atom individually or as part of the bundle," said Bill Calder, a spokesman for Intel. "If you want to purchase the chip set, obviously there is better pricing."
While Huang indicated no legal action is looming, he didn't rule out the possibility, adding, "I hope it doesn't come to that."
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