“There have been some suggestions that the decision was based on allegations and not facts,” said Jonathan Todd, a commission spokesman. “With the publication of this decision, you can see precisely the details of the facts and how Intel broke the law.”

Below, a few of those details:

From a series of 2006 Lenovo e-mails:
“As you know I have been negotiating a special deal with Intel. The net is that Intel has made us a very attractive offer that we will end up taking. Our part of this deal is that we will award all business of shipments for the rest of this calendar year to Intel. In exchange, Intel will give us a special deal for both [geographical area] and [geographical area]. The deal is worth millions of dollars.”

“[two Lenovo executives] had a dinner with [an Intel executive] tonight (…). […] When we asked Intel what level of support we will get on NB [notebook] in next quarter, [he] told us (…) the deal is base[d] [sic] on our assumption to not launch AMD NB [notebook] platform. (…) Intel deal will not allow us to launch AMD.”

From a 2002 HP e-mail concerning the company’s negotiation of a rebate agreement with Intel:
“PLEASE DO NOT… communicate to the regions, your team members or AMD that we are constrained to 5 percent AMD by pursuing the Intel agreement.”

From a 2004 HP e-mail:
“You can NOT use the commercial AMD line in the channel in any country, it must be done direct. “If you do and we get caught (and we will) the Intel moneys (each month) is gone (they would terminate the deal). The risk is too high.”

From a 2004 Dell e-mail:
“[Intel senior executives] are prepared for [all-out war] if Dell joins the AMD exodus. We get ZERO MCP for at least one quarter while Intel ‘investigates the details’ (…) We’ll also have to bite and scratch to even hold 50%, including a commitment to NOT ship in Corporate. If we go in Opti [Optiplex corporate desktop line], they cut it to <20% and use the added MCP to compete against us" and "It looks 100% certain that Intel will take MCP to ZERO for at least one quarter while they 'review all of the numbers and implications.' (...) Appears likely that Intel would take MCP to <25% of current levels UNLESS we agree up front not to ship into [Product line]. If we do that, we're in 'détente' mode and can keep MPC [sic] at 50%. However, we don't meet [AMD Senior Executive]'s T&Cs [Terms and Conditions]. So, I would plan on MCP at <20% levels if we execute AMD across [Product line]and [Product line] as AMD wants."

Sounds pretty damning, no? Well, Intel doesn’t think so. In a hastily issued response, the company dismissed the EC’s release of the documents saying, “there’s nothing new here.”

“This Decision reflects the underlying bias we have come to expect from the case team that ran this investigation,” Intel said. “The Commission relied heavily on speculation found in e-mails from lower level employees that did not participate in the negotiation of the relevant agreements. At the same time, they ignored or minimized hard evidence of what actually happened, including highly authoritative documents, written declarations and testimony given under oath by senior individuals who negotiated the transactions at issue.”

The global PC market will suffer a rare decline this year with shipments expected to slip four percent to 287.3 million units in 2009, from 299.2 million in 2008 (click on chart to enlarge). Not since the dot-com bust of 2001 have PC sales been so slow or their outlook so grim, says iSuppli, the research outfit charting the market’s collapse.

“An annual decline in unit shipments is highly unusual in the PC market,” says Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, for iSuppli. “Even in weak years, PC unit shipments typically rise by single-digit percentages. The last decline–in 2001–was a 5.1 decrease in unit shipments due to the extraordinary impact of the Dot-Com bust, which caused inflated IT spending levels from the previous years to collapse.”

Driving the gloomy forecast this time around: The econalypse, of course, but also, dwindling demand for desktop computers. iSuppli expects an 18.1 percent drop in desktop shipments, from 151.9 million in 2008 to 124.4 million in 2009.

Grim, I know. Still, there is a bit of good news in the report. Notebook PC shipments will rise 11.7 percent to 155.97 million units in in 2009, exceeding desktop shipments for the first time ever.

Meanwhile, the market for traditional notebooks, which DisplaySearch defines as laptops with displays 12.1-inches and larger, will be flat year over year for the first time. And that’s interesting because one of the factors driving netbook sales, along with their lower price point, is screen size. Increasingly, consumers are looking for near-notebook-size screens in their netbooks.

“Mini-notes are forecast to continue to be a significant portion of the market. However, as display sizes of these devices have quickly moved from 7.0” to 8.9” to 10.1”, and now with the emergence of 11.6” and 12.0” mini-note products, it is clear that buyers want a light-weight device, but that they also want a bigger display,” said John Jacobs, director of notebook market research at DisplaySearch. “While these devices have certainly created a new market, our research indicates that they are predominantly used as secondary PCs by consumers, and are not replacing notebooks.”

It would seem then that the so-called “fastest-growing segment of the PC market” is also the most misunderstood. For what is a netbook but an underpowered laptop or a giant Gallagher-sized smartphone? Consumers are intrigued by the netbook’s low prices, but they don’t understand its value proposition.

“We need to make sure consumers are buying a PC intended for what they plan to do with it,” said NPD’s Stephen Baker. “There is a serious risk of cannibalization in the notebook market that could cause a real threat to netbooks’ success. Retailers and manufacturers can’t put too much emphasis on PC-like capabilities and general features that could convince consumers that a netbook is a replacement for a notebook. Instead, they should be marketing mobility, portability, and the need for a companion PC to ensure consumers know what they are buying and are more satisfied with their purchases.”

“After losing share to Intel on a sequential basis during three out of four quarters in 2008, AMD managed to reverse the trend in the first quarter of 2009,” iSuppli analyst Matthew Wilkins said in a statement. “AMD increased its allocation of global microprocessor revenue due to strong performances in each area of its microprocessor portfolio, particularly in its notebook products. This was an impressive feat given the economic downturn and the weakness in the PC and server markets.”

Of course, AMD (AMD) did suffer an econalypse-inspired revenue decline in Q1, as did Intel (INTC). And the factors that caused it are expected to persist. iSuppli figures the 2009 microprocessor market will top out at $28.6 billion, down 15.8 percent from $34 billion in 2008.

These are the best MacBooks we’ve ever made, says Schiller, noting the machine’s new unibody design. Schiller announces new version of the 15-inch MacBook Pro. Like its 17-inch counterpart, the 15-inch features Apple’s (AAPL) new lithium-polymer battery. “Nicest display we’ve ever put in a notebook,” says Schiller. The machine also features a built-in SD slot geared towards photographers. It’s also the fastest notebook Apple has ever made. 3.06 GHZ. Nice. So happy I bought my new machine two months ago. Onward. Up to 500 GB hard drive. Starts at $1699. Apple is updating the new 17-inch and 13-inch MacBook Pro as well. Similar configurations. Both devices feature that same SD slot. Built-in backlit keyboard. 13 is tricked out with a new Firewire 800 port. 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1199. All three machines ship today. “This is the most affordable line-up we’ve ever had,” says Schiller.

Check out our WWDC 2009 Full-Coverage special feature for more WWDC news.

“When I look at netbooks, I see cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens,” he explained, noting that it’s “a stretch” to call a netbook a personal computer. “It’s just not a good consumer experience and not something we would put the Mac brand on….it’s not a space as it exists today that we are interested in, nor do we believe that customers in the long term would be interested in. It’s a segment we would choose not to play in. That said, we do look at the space and are interested to see our customers’ respond to it. People that want a small computer so to speak that does browsing and e-mail, might want to buy an iPod Touch or they might want to buy an iPhone. And so, we have other products to accomplish some of what people are buying netbooks for and so, in that particular way we play in an indirect basis.”

Turns out, Research in Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie feels pretty much the same way. In a recent interview with Reuters, he said the company has no interest in adding a netbook to RIM’s product line. The only netbook Balsillie is interested in is one “you can hold up to your ear and clip onto your belt.” In other words, a BlackBerry. Anything larger just won’t cut it, as a parade of discontinued nonphone portable hardware has already shown us. “These devices don’t work,” Balsillie said. “At the end of the day what we’ve really found is that if [customers] can do it on a BlackBerry that’s what they’ll want.”

Interesting to hear these two companies come out so strongly against netbooks given the current buzz around them. Demand for netbooks is reportedly surging, so much so, it’s singlehandedly bolstering PC sales slowed by the econalypse. Nokia (NOK) is considering entering the netbook market according to Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. So why are Apple (AAPL) and Research in Motion (RIMM) thumbing their noses at it? Perhaps because they view the netbook as an interim product, a placeholder. Perhaps because they know that the handset is the next computer?

Apple certainly does. The iPhone already runs a spartan version of the company’s OS X operating system. How long will it be before the device is outfitted with a more powerful processor–perhaps one designed by PA Semi–capable of running OS X SL? How long before the iPhone (or its dock) is outfitted with the Mini DisplayPort that will connect it to a monitor? How long before we no longer need netbooks or notebooks because our handsets do it all?

Ports on left side include a new mini-display port. The left side also features a battery indicator.

Other points : A solid-state drive option. The unit is less than 1-inch thick, .95 inches to be exact.

There are two models. The model with a 15.4-inch display comes with a 2.4 Ghz Intel Core Duo and sells for $1,999.

The second model has the same screen size and faster processors.

They go on sale today and start shipping tomorrow.

The new MacBook Pro is the most environmentally-friendly computer Apple has ever made. It’s the first Apple laptop to win an Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool–EPEAT–seal from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Coming up: MacBook Air.

The event may explain as well the “future product transition” that compelled Apple to forecast a nearly 5 percent drop in gross profit margin for the final quarter of the 2008 fiscal year. Apple offered few details of that transition, though CFO Peter Oppenheimer said during a July earnings call that it will involve “state-of-the-art new products that our competitors just aren’t going to be able to match.”

“One of the investments we make is to introduce new products that initially cost more because they deliver an entirely new level of value to the customer,” Apple COO Tim Cook said during the same call. “Then we ride the cost curves down with value engineering and volume manufacturing, leaving us far ahead of our competitors. We have some of these types of investments in front of us that I can’t discuss.”

Until Tuesday, Oct. 14, that is.

Clearly, Apple’s position in the notebook computer market is a strong one. And presumably the company will grow stronger still following the debut of its new MacBooks, which are rumored to be launching in mid-October. Perhaps RBC analyst Mike Abramsky wasn’t all that far off when he predicted that 2008 could be a record-breaking year for Apple. Back in August, Abramsky suggested that “massive back-to-school Mac sales” in excess of three million will see Apple reporting year-over-year growth of 44 percent for the three-month period ending September.

Up to now, Apple shipped 2,319,000 Macs in Q1 2008 and 2,289,000 in Q2. If it ships the 3.04 million Abramsky predicts for Q3 and a similar number in Q4, 2008, well … 2008 is going to be a very good year for Apple. Very good.

“Field checks confirm that shipments of new MacBooks have begun, with a sharp production ramp planned for September and an introduction planned for early October,” Gardner wrote. “The most distinctive features of the new MacBook appear to be a very thin aluminum casing, an LED-backlit display and an aggressive entry-level price point.”

Gardner expects Apple (AAPL) to introduce its fall notebook line “within weeks.” October 14, perhaps?

“Our latest checks show forecasted calendar 3Q and 2008 iPhone build volumes have been revised significantly higher, with more than 15 million 3G iPhones plus two million old 2G iPhones forecast for 2008,” FBR Capital Market (FBCM) analysts Craig Berger and Robert Pikover explained in a research note to clients today. The two also noted that Apple’s raised build volumes for Macs and iPods as well. “Recent checks show Apple’s 3Q notebook and desktop build volumes were revised up by 10% and 20%, respectively, since our last check,” they explained. “… Apple’s 3Q iPod build volumes were revised up by 15% since our last check and are now set to grow 35% sequentially.”

Interestingly, Berger and Pikover suggest that some of that iPod volume may be in updated iterations of the iconic device. “We hear a new, lower priced Nano may be coming, as well as refreshed versions of the Touch and Classic,” they said.

The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, which monitors truth in advertising, didn’t find enough of it in Dell’s claim that it makes the “World’s Most Secure Commercial Laptops.” Tipped off to Dell’s “world’s most secure” advertising campaign by rival Lenovo (LNVGY), NAD examined Dell’s claims and determined it to have a few too many unnecessary superlatives.

NAD noted that while the PC maker’s machines were indeed secure, “claims suggesting Dell notebook computers are the ‘world’s most secure’ were not supported by the evidence in the record.”

The world’s most secure laptops … Yeah.. that’s the ticket! Yeah, you betcha …