Tom’s Hardware: The introduction of the ultra-cheap ASUS EeePC has changed the entire market. This compact computer with its minimalistic feature set has raised quite a few eyebrows. ASUS has shown that is possible to offer a small notebook for as little as €299. Despite the low price, the build quality is acceptable - better than anticipated, actually. Do you see a chance for AMD to enter into this quickly growing market for low-cost PCs – perhaps with a processor and graphics solution?

Polster: Yes, to me the real question is – are we seeing an expansion of the classical market to include this ultra-low-cost segment or is the entire market moving towards lower prices? After all, low system prices inevitably mean lower margins as well. I would agree that the market is changing, but we’re not sure where it’s headed. While we are working on something, I can’t talk about it just yet.

Tom’s Hardware: According to the European Commission, Intel abused its strong position in the market, using unfair business practices to hurt its competitor, AMD, violating article 82 of the EU treaty. How do you think this lawsuit will end?

Polster: So far things are looking very good for us. After all, the EU commission has even broadened the scope of its investigation. Previously, Intel was only being criticised for influencing the OEM market, but now the EU commission has expanded its charges to include the entire retail business. We are talking about retailers being influenced by Intel. All we’re looking for is fair competition, and that’s what we want to have straightened out; that Intel may end up having to pay a nice sum as a penalty is a different matter.

Tom’s Hardware: The low share price of only $6 (€4), which represents a three-year low, has fuelled a new slew of rumours saying that AMD may be acquired by any one of its competitors. The list of likely candidates includes such companies as IBM, Samsung and Nvidia. What do you say to this?

Polster: That you could easily add another 500 names to that list.

Tom’s Hardware: Thank you very much for this interview, Mr. Polster.

The interview was conducted by Frank Völkel.

Also read our previous interview with AMD – The Phenom Phenomenon.