In light of the SEC's narrative, I asked Intel to explain its understanding of what exactly the MCP payments were really for.
"Meet Competition Programs are exactly what the name says," Intel spokesman Mulloy emailed back, "a program whereby Intel provides discounts in response to bids by competitors." He declined further comment.
Chipguy however says it was $6B for co-marketing.
That subsidy alone would have bought thirty movies on the scale of Titanic.