AMD, Nvidia hit by graphics chip probe

[Michael]

BOSTON (Reuters) -- Graphics chip maker Nvidia Corp. said Friday that it received a subpoena from the Department of Justice as part of an probe into potential antitrust violations involving graphics processing units and cards.

Nvidia (down $1.29 to $35.70, Charts) shares sank over 3 percent in early afternoon trade on the Nasdaq.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/12/01/tech...ion=2006120113

[afterburntdw]

The article doesn't really elaborate about what the suspicion is with Nvidia. I can understand why they want to investigate AMD.

What do you guys think it could be?

[Michael]

I have a few beliefs as to what it is, but first I need to get it confirmed before posting.

[1c3d0g]

Whatever they do, I hope both companies can continue producing awesome GPU's unimpeded. We need the competition, or else we'll have another Creative on our hands...and that's not a good thing. :-/

[Michael]

Originally Posted by 1c3d0g

Whatever they do, I hope both companies can continue producing awesome GPU's unimpeded. We need the competition, or else we'll have another Creative on our hands...and that's not a good thing. :-/

The situation isn't that bad where it will cause permanent damage to either company.

[joshuapurcell]

Originally Posted by 1c3d0g

Whatever they do, I hope both companies can continue producing awesome GPU's unimpeded. We need the competition, or else we'll have another Creative on our hands...and that's not a good thing. :-/

I don't think this will stop these graphics hardware companies from making great cards, but I completely agree that it would be nice to have more competition happening in the sound card arena. I personally will most likely buy the best Linux-supported sound card other than Creative (if I get anything to replace the on-board sound), and that's based solely on the idea that I don't think it's good for me in the long run to support a monopoly. Look at any hardware-centric site or forum (including this one of course)... you hardly ever see any sub-forum dedicated to sound hardware, and 2 out of the 10 cards advertised on Newegg's main sound card page are Creative. Meanwhile Creative's newest cards don't even have crappy support in Linux, and I'm sure Creative doesn't really care about that... they will sell those cards no matter what.

By the way... what would that sound card be? I may make a purchase within the next couple of days so it will arrive around the same time as my new motherboard.

[Michael]

Originally Posted by joshuapurcell

By the way... what would that sound card be? I may make a purchase within the next couple of days so it will arrive around the same time as my new motherboard.

For Linux sound card recommendations, see: http://www.phoronix.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18

[Michael]

Turns out NVIDIA, AMD and ATI have been accused of some antitrust shenanigans, with the DoJ alleging the firms "have engaged in a contract combination, trust or conspiracy, the effect of which was to raise the prices at which they sold graphics processing units and cards to artificially inflated levels." We're not so sure that the main argument -- that graphics card prices are almost always the same, reaching around $500 in the high end -- will hold a lot of water, given the specs pumping nature of the graphics card biz, but allegations of secret meetings between graphics card execs to discuss pricing could be a bit more damning. The DoJ is requesting documents as far back as 1990, so this could get messy. Intel has managed to steer clear of this whole cartel fiasco, thanks to its lack of a discrete graphics biz, but we're sure they're totally jealous right now -- perhaps they'll buy NVIDIA just to join in on the fun.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/08/n...-price-fixing/

[1c3d0g]

I don't understand or particularly like the last comment: "perhaps they'll buy NVIDIA just to join in on the fun"...what the hell is that supposed to mean? Are they jealous that AMD is getting their asses spanked and there's nothing they can do about it?

[Michael]

Originally Posted by 1c3d0g

I don't understand or particularly like the last comment: "perhaps they'll buy NVIDIA just to join in on the fun"...what the hell is that supposed to mean? Are they jealous that AMD is getting their asses spanked and there's nothing they can do about it?

I think the author may have meant for it to be a joke, or just to plug another one of their blog posts with the link.