can you blame them...The AT trial should be fun
Mailloux concluded his e-mail stating: "Anyhow, please visit me if I end up in jail...
513. In an April 1999 email exchange among Micron Vice President Bob Donnelly, Micron DRAM Marketing Manager Jeff Mailoux, and Micron JEDEC representatives Kevin Ryan and Terry Lee, an article was attached describing Samsung s plans to produce as much as forty millon Rambus devices in 1999. (R 1444 at 3). In response, Ryan complained that Samsung had "broken ranks with the other suppliers and sold their soul to the devil." (R 1444 at 1). One of the recipients of the email, Mike Seibert, responded that "(tJhese guys (Rambus) are big trouble for us all. If this thing gets into an oversupply mode with RDRAM things could get really ugly." (RX 1444 at 1). Seibert then asked Micron Vice-President Bob Donnelly if Samsung understood "what the Rambus/Intel biz model wil do to our autonomy?" (RX 1444 at 1). Vice-President Donnelly responded that he had "certainly made the point with the offcers that Intel. . . ultimately could control the DRAM industry." (R 1444 at 1).
526. In September 1996, Hyundai executive and SyncLink Consortium chairman Farhad Tabrizi wrote an email that expressed a concern that "the real motive of Intel is to control DRAM manufacturers. . . ." According to Tabrizi, Intel' s actions would give it "control of DRAMs and other CPU makers. We will become a foundry for all Intel activities and Intel would like and desires to do business with us then we may get a small share of their total demand. " (RX 778 at 1). Tabrizi concluded his email stating: "I urge you to please educate others and get their agreement to say 'NO TO RAMBUS AN NO TO INTEL DOMINATION. '"
529. At that same meeting, the assembled manufacturers agreed to hold a meeting of DRAM manufacturer executives in Japan in January 1997. (Tabrizi, Tr. 9041). Prior to the meeting, Tabrizi sent an email to other DRAM manufacturers that stated that the "Intel decision to go on a Rambus route was pure political and domination and control over the DRAM suppliers and not technical." (R 802 at 3; Tabrizi, Tr. 9041-42). He then stated: "As I have mentioned many times before, Intel does not make DRAMs, we do. And if all of us put our resources together, we do not have to go on this undesirable path. The path of control and domination by Intel." (R 802 at 3). He urged the DRAM manufacturers to "stick together on this matter. (R 802 at 3; Tabrizi, Tr. 9042-43).
533. In February 1998, Jeff Mailloux of Micron wrote an email to Tabrizi stating that Mailloux had spoken to a reporter for an industry publication called EE Times. (RX 1105 at 1). Mailloux stated that "I told him that at any density, and any process that is available in 1999 RDRAM is at least 30% cost adder for Micron " and then encouraged Tabrizi to call the reporter with Hyundai' s views. (RX 1105 at 1).
Long version: Jeff Mailloux, a senior Micron executive, subsequently wrote Farhad Tabrizi, his counterpart at Hyundai (now Hynix), stating, "I am tired of Intel or Rambus giving my customers cost estimates, so we called Anthony [Cataldo, author of an article in EE Times] and I talked to him for about an hour and gave him Micron's story on it and encouraged him to call other suppliers. In short I told him that at any density, and any process that is available in 1999, RDRAM is at least 30% cost adder for Micron. Just giving you a heads up and would encourage you to call him and give Hyundai's view on it." The email continued: "Here is what I basically told him, if you forward the article to anybody else, remove this part." After summarizing this conversation, Mailloux concluded his e-mail stating: "Anyhow, please visit me if I end up in jail, but felt it was important and timely enough to get our message out there that 5% is not realistic in our opinion."
535. In April 1998, Bert McComas, an industry consultant, gave an exclusive seminar for DRAM
manufacturers about Intel's selection of RDRAM. (R 1138 at 1; Tabrizi, Tr. 9061-62). McComas pre-cleared his seminar invitation and list of topics with Tabrizi. (Tabrizi, Tr. 9064). 536. McComas s invitation asked its recipients not to forward the invitation to Rambus or Intel. (R 1138 at 1). 537. During his April 1998 seminar presentation to the DRAM manufacturers, McComas stated that a manufacturer that chose to build RDRAM was making a "guaranteed bad bet for margin enhancement " and he stated that RDRAM deepens the manufacturer s financial dilemma. (RX 1482 at 12 26). As a "possible strateg(y)," McComas suggested that DRAM manufacturers (t)ape out but do not fully productize or cost reduce" the RDRAM device, in an effort to "resist popular deployment" of RDRAM. (R 1482 at 34-35).
541. During his presentation at the June 1998 "Executive Summit " McComas suggested that the DRAM manufacturers share their RDRAM production plans to determine whether there would be a demand-supply imbalance. (Tabrizi, Tr. 9073-74).
553. Tabrizi admitted at trial that he had told Sang Park, then the President and Chief Operating Officer of Hyundai, that he wanted to "kill" Rambus and force RDRAM from the market. (Tabrizi, Tr. 9105-07). Tabrizi subsequently testified that what he meant by "killing Rambus was really just "Rambus suicide, (with) me watching on the sideline. " (Tabrizi Tr. 9109). In his June 2000 email to Park, Tabrizi stated: " (i)f Intel does not invest in us, I really want to ask you to let me go back to my old mode of RDRAM killing. I think we were very close to achieving our goal until you said we are absolutely committed to this baby." (R 1661 at 2).
