Chief executive officer and president of leading graphics chip supplier Nvidia Corp. said in an interview that while Intel does not only sell its Atom processors only bundled with chipsets, pricing of Atom microprocessors still forces computer makers to acquire chips bundled with core-logic sets.

According to Jen-Hsun Huang, Intel sells its Atom processors for $45 a unit, however, if a customer wants to get Atom chip and compatible core-logic set, it will get if for $25, which automatically reduces Nvidia’s availability to compete against Intel in the Atom-compatible core-logic market. According to Intel’s official price-list, the company sells its single-core Atom 230 and N270 processors for $29 and $44, respectively, whereas Atom 330 is available for $43 in business quantities,.

“That seems pretty unfair. We ought to be able to compete and serve that market,” said Mr. Huang in an interview with Reuters news-agency.

Even though Intel was fined for $1.44 billion last week by the European Commission for illegal business practices that involved limiting competition on the market of x86 central processing units, the company itself claims that it does compete fairly in case of Atom as well.

“We compete fairly. We do not force bundles on any computer makers and customers can purchase Atom individually or as part of the bundle. If you want to purchase the chip set, obviously there is better pricing,” said Bill Calder, a spokesman for Intel.

While the head of Nvidia does not agree that Intel is completely fair, he claims that Nvidia will not sue Intel.

“I hope it does not come down to that. We have to do whatever we have to do when the time comes. We really hope this company (Intel) will compete on a fair basis,” said Mr. Huang.

Tags: Intel, Nvidia, Geforce, Nforce, Ion