AMD, Intel settle five-year lawsuit for $1.25 billion

The world's top two makers of microprocessors yesterday announced that they had come to a settlement of a long-running antitrust suit, with AMD agreeing to drop all litigation against Intel in exchange for a $1.25 billion payout. Some experts say that the settlement will likely mean little to the end-user of the products manufactured by the company. Erica Ogg, writing for CNET, says that observant shoppers may notice a slight increase in the use of AMD chipsets in new computer models this holiday season as Intel stops punishing manufacturers for using AMD products. Ogg also writes that computer prices in general could rise slightly as a result of the settlement, as competition between the two microchip makers cools from its previous incendiary levels, but that AMD will likely remain the budget option while Intel retains its role as the maker of premium CPUs. Suits against Intel filed by EU regulators and the state of New York are unaffected by the settlement, although AMD's original suit was the impetus for the EU filing in 2004.