Quanta Sues AMD For Faulty Laptop Chips
by Andrew Cunningham on January 4, 2012 4:30 PM ESTQuanta Computer, a Taiwanese company that manufactures laptops for HP, Dell, Acer, and others, is suing AMD for an alleged breach of contract, claiming that AMD chips used in laptops made for NEC were defective. No specific model numbers are mentioned, but both AMD and ATI are mentioned in the report, meaning that the complaints could cover CPUs, GPUs, or both.
Quanta's problems with the chips stem from heat tolerance issues in a particular laptop line, though again no specific model numbers are mentioned. Because of the issues, Quanta claims it "has suffered significant injury to prospective revenue and profits" and is suing for breach of warranty, negligent misrepresentation, civil faud, and interference with a contract.
For AMD's part, it has said that Quanta's claims are false, noting that Quanta used the same chips in a different computer for NEC and didn't have the same problems. If true, this would suggest that the problem was due to the design of the particular computer rather than AMD's chips. AMD's response to the complaint also says that the chip in question is no longer being sold.
Source: Bloomberg
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codedivine - Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - link
TR reports that it was for an old chipset for Intel CPUs that the former ATI used to make.Belard - Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - link
I'm looking at jumping from Android to WPx... as it is, I am running the free WP7 Launcher on my Android that makes using the phone so much easier than the default Android one.I see postings from WP7 owners wishing the titles would rotate with the phone (As we know, not even iOS and Android does this)...
But there is the cool thing, the WP7 Launcher for Android *DOES* rotate the tiles - which not only looks cool, its handy and allows you to read the titles. Of course the wide titles can't rotate, but this function would SO be worth it.
Belard - Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - link
#*&!@#$%!my tabs jumped and I thought I was responding to another story.
Disregard.
PS: Sounds more like a Quanta issue.
GruntboyX - Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - link
I say Intel is fronting quanta to sue AMD in exchange Intel offers discounts on marketing and makes them a premier supplier for ultrabook chipsets...Yeah I am way out there in left field..
Wreckage - Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - link
Looks like AMD's very own "bumpgate". What goes around comes around.Medallish - Thursday, January 5, 2012 - link
What?! How does this at all compare to Bumpgate, and how is it Karma? What goes around comes around? Sorry but that post makes you look extremely uninformed, and a bit of a fanboy who has it out for AMD.Bumpgate was a general problem with nVidia GPU's caused by a faulty design flaw. This is one computer manufacturer, complaining about an undisclosed chip, and it's mentioned NEC has used the same chip without issues.
formulav8 - Thursday, January 5, 2012 - link
He's more than alittle out there hating AMD. I guess you don't reconize the name. He's been banned so many times i'm very surprised he's still around. He's in love with nVidia and Intel and outright hates anything ATI/AMD. So your fanboy remark about him is 110% true.g101 - Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - link
There's also the "Scali" punk running around claiming that the bulldozer CMT design performs no better than intel SMT (hyper-threading)...I've actually seen several instances of these insane fanboys claiming that they have been paid by Intel to post "nice remarks".
I wonder.
Roland00Address - Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - link
Not trying to pick sides but Quanta is the largest ODM (original design manufacture) out there for laptops. If a particular batch of AMD chips were bad/not accurate on their tdp wouldn't that show up in multiple computers that Quanta design for, not just NEC. I seriously doubt Quanta would have not used the same batch of AMD chips for other computers such as Hp, Dell, Acer, etc.Sure NEC may have complained to Quanta originally, high return rates on a particular line, resulting on NEC wanting a refund from Quanta, Quanta then passing the buck to AMD (resulting in this lawsuit), but if a particular batch was really that bad shouldn't Quanta should be able to show this with multiple brands of laptops not just the NEC ones that Quanta built.
Beenthere - Thursday, January 5, 2012 - link
Sounds like Quanta is looking for a free lunch. Don't think they will be too successful with this suit.