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VIA blames its down slide on Intel’s anti-competitive behavior
by Arushi Chaudhary - November 15, 2009 - comments
VIA is hopeful that the increasing popularity of netbooks and light laptops will increase demand for its low power consumption microprocessors and hence revive business
Taipei, November 15 -- After Intel’s payment to AMD, Taiwan-based VIA Technologies urges anti-trust regulators not to get carried away by the move.
Taiwan-based VIA Technologies that has been witnessing a down slide in terms of business and returns has partly blamed Intel and its anti-competitive practices for this situation.
VIA takes the hit, blames it on Intel
After Intel paid a whopping $1.25 billion to Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in an attempt to straighten out allegations of anti-competitive activities, VIA Technologies is now reaching out to anti-trust regulators and asking them not to get distracted by this move by Intel.
However, VIA is not the only one, several other companies have leveled similar charges against Intel.
Richard Brown, VIA’s international marketing vice-president, said, “We congratulate AMD; it's been a tough battle for them. We do think the anti-competitive environment is still here and still needs to be looked at very carefully.”
Early in this decade, VIA was the most thriving chip-design company in Taiwan. It became a global leader that catered to almost 40 percent of the world chipset market and had annual revenue of nearly $1 billion. Back then, these achievements put VIA ahead of Intel.
However, the success story did not last long and VIA has had a rather dismal journey. The company share in the global market has slipped from 40 percent to just 0.2 percent, whereas competitors like Intel and AMD hold 81.1 per cent and 18.7 of the market respectively, according to IDC - a market research group.
VIA still hopeful
VIA has been through a rough patch and its officials admit it, but they are only quick to add that Intel is partly responsible for this near debacle.
"It's obviously a very tough environment for us. We believe we have the right product, but sometimes the customer doesn't make a decision based on the attributes of the product," Brown said.
However, VIA remains hopeful and here’s why, “For many years, Intel was preaching the megahertz story but now the focus is more on mobility, portability, and low power," Brown added.
He admits that though there has been no dramatic rise in sales till now, the trends are encouraging. The company has signed deals with Dell, Samsung and Lenovo, to provide them with microprocessors. However, tales of VIA’s revival have not impressed the investors so far. Its stock has dipped by 3 percent this year.