Last time we talked about this subject, I speculated that Intel "allowed" AMD to live to maintain the illusion of a free market in CPU chips. The latest news may mean that I was all wet about that, or maybe not. It'll be interesting to see what happens as AMD nears flatline--will Intel help, the way Microsoft helped Apple in similar straits? Will Intel quietly arrange financing or a buyout, maybe assembling investors from its VC network anchored at Intel Capital? Or maybe they'll do a joint venture to built an expensive chip fab plant with Intel providing the capital, saving AMD a bundle (not necessarily an antitrust violation, any more than two newspapers sharing a printing plant, justified on grounds of economic efficiency).

I still have a hard time believing that Intel would welcome the death of AMD. When you own 95% of a market, capturing that last 5% usually isn't worth it, what with the antitrust and antimonopoly regulators guaranteed to come down on you like a ton of bricks. AMD was their figleaf to say with a straight face "no, we're not a monopoly, not actually, technically, precisely a monopoly, see AMD over there?"

Sharks need remoras, Intel needs AMD.