2005 was a tense year for Intel as they were surpassed by the world’s second-largest processor manufacturer in dual-core technology, gaining victories in the retail market in September. However, defeating a giant like Intel was not an easy task for AMD.
AMD extended the battle throughout the year with the leading chip company by filing a lawsuit in state court, claiming that Intel engaged in unfair competition. In a 48-page complaint, AMD alleged that Intel had “used money and power to subsidize numerous customer companies worldwide and coerced partners into not signing contracts with AMD to secure sales victories and maintain an illegal monopoly in the x86 processor market“.
Intel responded without hesitation, stating that AMD was merely “rehashing their past mistakes“: “AMD has once again chosen the courts to interfere with our success. The corporation is strong enough to withstand these slanderous claims“.
Martin Reynolds, Vice President of Research at Gartner, dismissed the notion that this was merely an “advertising campaign” by AMD and predicted that the lawsuit would take several years to resolve satisfactorily.
The world’s second-largest chip manufacturer gained several advantages when, in July, the European Union unexpectedly raided Intel’s offices in Europe. The company also faced issues related to monopoly concerns in Japan and South Korea.
The legal dispute arose due to the limited success of AMD’s Opteron and Athlon x64 processors. Although these chips represented a significant technological advancement for AMD compared to Intel, they did not translate into any market share percentage this year. Dell, along with other computer manufacturers including Sony, Gateway, and Toshiba, remained loyal to Intel’s processors. In the server market, IBM and Sun Microsystems exhibited a similar stance.
Nevertheless, AMD achieved a small but significant victory by surpassing Intel in the retail market in September and October in the United States. However, some experts predicted that this was merely a “temporary blip on the radar screen“.
While AMD introduced x64 processors, Intel lost some market share and trust this year as the company was forced to revise its product launch roadmap.
However, Intel returned to the race. The company has focused more on platforms for businesses, desktops, and mobile devices, paying less attention to increasing chip speeds. At the recent Intel Developer Forum, they announced a new microarchitecture that promises to significantly reduce power consumption.
In November, Intel began shipping its first desktop chip line with VT (Virtualization Technology) aimed at enhancing security and supporting home entertainment networks.
In contrast, AMD is still in the research phase to introduce competitive virtualization technology, which is expected to be launched in 2006.
