Re: Competition is a wonderful thing
"why are we seeing Android tablets now based on Intel, including flagships like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3?
Unlike a Windows (or Linux or OS X) device, there's no reason to do so from a compatibility point of view, on the contrary, it's a slight downside as some Android applications won't run on Intel."
Are you aware that Intel have a history of paying market-leading customers to use their chips rather than the competition's? Obviously they wouldn't be doing that again, new management etc.
Anyway, best-known might be the Dell-Intel deals as reported here and elsewhere e.g.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/27/news/companies/dell_settlement_intel.fortune/index.htm
"Though last week's settlement between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Dell was anticipated -- the computer maker admitted no wrongdoing and agreed to pay about $100 million in fines -- it was nevertheless a stunning event both in terms of the charges it leveled against Dell and those it reinforced against semiconductor giant Intel.
Amid accusations of both earnings manipulation and apparent antitrust violations, the SEC paints a picture of the computer industry in which the near-monopolist Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) is the master puppeteer and the computer makers are little more than its marionettes. When Intel rival AMD (AMD, Fortune 500) first propounded this dark view of the world in an antitrust suit against Intel in June 2005 it seemed like a wacky conspiracy theory; now it has been endorsed by regulators for 30 countries, including ours.
In its complaint, the SEC alleges that, from May 2001 through January 2006, Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) created the false impression that it had met or exceeded analysts' consensus earnings-per-share expectations in 20 straight quarters. In reality, says the SEC, Dell wouldn't have met its numbers once during that period without secret payments from Intel that were made in exchange for Dell's agreement not to use any AMD chips.
Thus, the SEC has now become the sixth regulatory body worldwide -- and the third in the United States -- to conclude that Intel made improper payments throughout much of the last decade to persuade computer makers to bar or sharply limit their use of AMD chips. Though these payments allegedly began in 2001, under Intel's now retired CEO Craig Barrett, the practice allegedly continued and expanded under Intel's current CEO, Paul Otellini, according to the SEC.
Intel has always denied making such payments" (article continues)