Advanced Micro Devices

Intel hit with record fine of $1.45 billion in antitrust case WASHINGTON: European regulators Wednesday levied a record antitrust fine of $1.45 billion against Intel Corp. for abusing its position as the world's dominant computer-chip maker. The fine comes after nearly two years of investigation by the European Commission into allegations that the Santa Clara, Calif., company offered improper rebates and other discounts to discourage companies from buying microprocessors from smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Complaints from AMD triggered the case and the company's chief executive, Dirk Meyer, called the ruling "an important step toward establishing a truly competitive market."

NEW YORK -- Stocks declined yesterday on concern that companies like Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. and Apple Computer Corp. would report lower-than-expected earnings.The Dow Jones industrial average declined 13.01, to 3,532.13, closing just above the session low of 3,527.70. The Dow's decline was led by shares of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and International Business Machines Corp.The Standard & Poor's 500-Stock Index lost 2.37, to 447.69, and the American Stock Exchange's Market Value Index declined 0.05, to 440.90.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks eked out small gains yesterday as a bond market recovery and a semiconductor rally offset concern over inflation."The stock market's been keying in on one thing -- the bond market," said Lance Zipper, head of Nasdaq trading at Kidder, Peabody & Co. "When the bond market moved to the plus side by the end of the day, stocks just followed along."Stocks opened lower after the National Association of Purchasing Management's May index on manufacturing surpassed expectations, raising the possibility a strong economy will fuel inflation and higher interest rates.

DALLAS -- Texas Instruments Inc. yesterday became the latest American chip manufacturer to announce plans for a new factory in anticipation of continuing strong worldwide demand.The company said it planned to spend $750 million to $1 billion through 1998 to build the 624,000-square-foot factory at its headquarters complex in north Dallas that will produce next-generation microchips, which store and process information in computers and other electronic products.The first phase of the plant will cost $300 million and will be paid out of the company's internal cash flow.

After hearing the fan noise made by a new machine running the AMD 1-gigahertz chips, I was wondering if all Pentium III-class machines require the same amount of fan power to keep cool. I am thinking of getting a new system with an AMD processor, but I don't know if I could ever get used to the hum of all the fans it needs. The fact is that all desktop computers use cooling fans not only to chill chips but to reduce the heat created by the power supply that must generate juice for hard drives and assorted other parts.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Saying it has experienced a "virtual stampede of customers," Advanced Micro Devices Inc. reported yesterday that it had captured more than 30 percent of the market for the 386 microprocessor in the fourth quarter of 1991, leading to record quarterly revenues and its highest profit margins since 1984.The semiconductor company, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., said it had sold more than $145 million in 386 processors, many more than under the company's most optimistic projections.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said yesterday that it would immediately begin shipping clones of Intel Corp.'s 486-series computer chip in light of a federal judge's decision to overturn a jury verdict that had blocked sales of the chips.While the initial shipments by Advanced Micro will be small, the decision's long-term impact could include higher earnings for Advanced Micro, slimmer profit margins for Intel and still lower personal computer prices for consumers.Intel shares plummeted $12.25 yesterday, closing at $97.75 in Nasdaq trading, while Advanced Micro rose correspondingly, to close at $28, up $3.875.

NEW YORK -- The patter of second-quarter earnings reports begins this week, and probably will determine whether the rally that sent the Standard & Poor's 500 index up 18 percent this year will resume or get stuck in a summer rut, money managers say.Motorola Inc., Aluminum Co. of America, Yahoo! Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. are scheduled to report amid signs that the Asian economic crisis is causing U.S. growth to slow and hurting profits. At the same time, low interest rates have fueled the 1990s stock rally and there's no sign that borrowing costs are headed higher.

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Intel Corp. showed off a new microprocessor, code-named Willamette and running at 1.5 gigahertz, as the world's biggest semiconductor maker continues its race against rivals to have the fastest computer chip. At that speed, 1.5 billion electrical pulses are going through the chip every second to perform computer tasks. Intel's fastest production model chip is a Pentium III running at 800 megahertz, a little more than half as fast. Intel is in a heated race with rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to have the fastest chip on the market.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Intel Corp., the world's biggest semiconductor maker, said yesterday that it built a test chip with a new process that creates faster circuits by packing 10 million transistors into an area the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. Intel has made the first working memory chip that uses so-called 65-nanometer technology to shrink the circuits inside chips, Intel researcher Mark Bohr said in a conference call. The method lets Intel pack twice as many transistors into the same space.