I was really surprised by an AMD and Intel announcement today.
Intel Corp. is paying Silicon Valley rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. $1.25 billion to squash a legal battle over Intel’s sales tactics, a rift that led to antitrust charges against Intel in several countries and was headed toward a costly and nasty trial next year.
Intel still has to face government charges from the EU and NY State but it AMD will stay out of those and not start any lawsuits of it’s own.
Update: TechCrunch says 1.25 billion is nothing to Intel.
Just to put the size of the settlement in context, last year Intel’s revenues were $38 billion. Last quarter alone, it was making roughly $104 million a day. At that rate, Intel brings in $1.25 billion every 12 days. It can absorb the settlement pretty easily.