Digitimes started the "drame du jour" by basically accusing Intel of forcing PC makers to use its 945G-series chipsets* with its Atom processor. This comes in a context where chipset rival NVIDIA has announced a single-chip solution, called ION (read our take), that is smaller, has more graphics performance, but roughly the same power consumption and thermal envelope than Intel's offering.
According to Digitimes: "in an internal statement distributed to hardware makers recently, Intel reiterated that Atom CPUs for netbooks and nettops are only available bundled with its 945GSE and 945GC chipsets". Intel has flatly denied the report by confirming that "There is nothing preventing vendors from using the Ion platform. We sell Atom as a stand-alone processor, or as package with chipset", said Bill Calder (Intel) said to internetNews.com.
Business can get rough, but it would be surprising (although possible) that Intel's management sends such a memo because it is guaranteed to leak. The easy way for Intel to push its chipsets would be using discounts or raise the price of the Atom processor when it's not sold in a bundle. I'm not sure how much money Intel makes on the 945G chipset, but I would think that the gross margin for Atom is around %50-%60, which is awesome for such a "low-cost" product. Also, I don't imagine that NVIDIA would build a product if they knew that Intel could get in the way so easily.
Permalink: Accused of bundling Atom processor and chipset, Intel denies from Ubergizmo (US, FR) | Good deals | Hot: CES 2009, Jan 6-11
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[Source: Ubergizmo]
