Intel Corp (INTC)

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Elmer, just a couple choice quotes I wanted to highlight. As I read further, the article just seemed to get darker and darker.

- Yet unlike Intel, AMD can't turn a profit while making price cuts. Because its processors are better known, Intel commands a 30% to 40% premium over AMD's chips, according to Michael McConnell, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities.

- from the third quarter of 2001 to the same quarter of 2002, Intel's average selling price of a chip should rise from $150 to $160, while AMD's will drop from $58 to $55 -- or less, estimates Jonathan Joseph, an analyst with Salomon Smith Barney.

- Intel's PC processor market share has grown by 2.6 percentage points, to 81.9%, in the second quarter, according to IDC. And the giant should enjoy further gains in 2002. "I'd be surprised if AMD can sustain [its] market share during the rest of the year," says Shane Rau, an analyst with IDC. In fact, most experts believe Intel could grab 90% of the market -- or more -- eventually.

- "If AMD has trouble making money with 20% of the market, imagine what it would be like when it's 10%," says David Wu, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities.

- If Intel keeps gaining share, does antitrust become a concern? Not necessarily. "In the current Administration, [antitrust] actions are less likely," says Sophia Koropeckyj, director of industry economics at researcher Economy.com.

- Intel "plays with AMD like a toy," says Brian Matas, vice-president for research at semiconductor consultancy IC Insights.

- For AMD, "it's all going to depend on Hammer," says Joseph Osha, an analyst with Merrill Lynch.

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