Where will the recent news that AMD is suing Intel go? Already, the case has expanded into Japan, and surely we are only hearing about the tip of the iceberg of where this might go. Gartner analyst Martin Reynolds thinks AMD's case very much deserves to be heard.
"AMD's complaint reads a little like the Sopranos versus Mother Theresa," said Reynolds. "There are guns-to-heads and other language in it that might be overselling the point, but nonetheless there are plenty of incidents in there that do perhaps deserve the attention of the court."
Some allegations read like out of a modern day version of Dallas, just substitute processors for oil, with tales emerging of CEO Craig Barrett flying to Taiwan to threaten the Chairman of Acer and other stories.
Reynolds did make the point that the whole thing should have no effect on Apple, who recently announced their move to Intel processors. But it did leave some unanswered questions about the Apple switchover.
"However, it does raise the question of why Apple selected Intel over AMD," he told eWeek. "There was no existing business, so there can be no possibility of coercion based on rebates. It isn't too presumptuous to assume that Apple made the decision based on the facts that AMD and Intel offered."