Good day everyone … and thank you for joining us. For the past few years, we have been very open in outlining the major steps for AMD’s transformation into a processing powerhouse:

• From the acquisition of ATI Technologies;
• To the formation of GLOBALFOUNDRIES; and
• The creation of AMD-The Product Company,
  o with a single business unit,
  o a reinvigorated roadmap,
  o a new business model,
  o And a close relationship with a world-class leading-
  edge foundry.

Today, I am pleased to announce the last major component of that transformation–in the form of a transparent and public agreement with Intel to create a level playing field in the x86 processor industry–taking us one big step closer to achieving our bold vision.
There are three key components to the agreement:

• First, Intel has agreed to an important set of ground rules that we hope will define the path to a free and open market in the microprocessor industry;
• Second, we have agreed to a new patent cross-license agreement that gives AMD broad rights and the freedom to operate a business utilizing multiple foundries,
• And third, GLOBALFOUNDRIES has agreed to terms that allow them the freedom to operate as an independent world-class leading-edge foundry company, going forward, without being a subsidiary of AMD.

In addition, Intel has agreed to pay AMD $1.25 billion.

Today marks the beginning of a new era… one that confirms that the game has changed for AMD. It is an important milestone for us, for our customers, our partners, and most important–for consumers and businesses worldwide. In addition, it represents the culmination many years of litigation and regulatory engagement.

And we are optimistic that it will usher a new era for our industry. We recognize that it will take time for people to understand how operating conditions in the processor business have changed–but make no mistake–they have changed.

I would like to thank the regulatory agencies around the world for their diligence and consistency. Their work has enabled us to achieve this milestone. We are optimistic they will continue their vigilance in maintaining a level playing field, especially with respect to exclusionary practices in our industry.

Looking forward to three keys to our continued success: Compelling offerings; Access to customers and channels, And a winning business model.

We are optimistic this agreement addresses concerns about customer and channel access and our business model. We look forward to healthy competition with the mutual respect one would expect between world-class competitors.

According to Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison, Sun (JAVA) is already losing $100 million a month as it waits for regulatory approval, and judging from the price of the company’s stock today, it may be losing even more than that. Shares in Sun slid to $8.11–about 15 percent below Oracle’s offer price and a far cry from the $9.18 they hit in mid-October.

Clearly, investors are alarmed by this latest turn of events, though industry observers say there’s little reason for them to be. Morgan Stanley, for example, believes Oracle’s acquisition of Sun will win EU approval with few, if any, modifications to the MySQL database software about which regulators are so concerned.

“Based on our diligence, we believe the EC is likely to approve the deal with no remedies or remedies pertaining to MySQL’s licensing,” the research house said in a note to clients today. “It is highly unlikely that Oracle restructures the deal (e.g. spins MySQL) or walks away.”

Morgan Stanley’s call: The deal will go through and at $9.50 per share. As the firm notes, the EU hasn’t blocked a U.S.-based transaction since GE/Honeywell in 2001.

In a regulatory filing urging shareholders to vote for its incumbent board of directors at the upcoming annual meeting, Yahoo (YHOO)
characterized Microsoft’s (MSFT) position throughout the two companies’ acquisition talks as “unresponsive and inconsistent.”

Which is ironic, because the same can be said of Yahoo’s turnaround strategy and its share price as well. Yahoo’s shares were trading at $19.18 the day before Microsoft announced its $31-per-share bid for the company. Six months later they’re trading at $19.65, not 50 cents from where they started.

“We know what Yahoo’s worth,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said back in April. “$44 billion is a lot of money. If Yahoo’s shareholders like it, that’s great. We are prepared to go forward without a merger with Yahoo. … Time is money.”

It certainly is.

This afternoon, just a few hours after announcing the not-with-a-bang-but-a-whimper conclusion of its negotiations with Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO) said it had inked a non-exclusive search-advertising deal with Google that could, could, be worth about $800 million in annual revenues.

Yahoo explained the deal in another one of its retina-tormenting purple-font press releases entitled “Yahoo to Strengthen Competitive Position in Online Advertising Through Non-Exclusive Agreement With Google.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Yahoo will select the search term queries for which–and the pages on which–Yahoo may offer Google paid search results. Yahoo will define its users’ experience and will determine the number and placement of the results provided by Google and the mix of paid results provided by Panama, Google or other providers. The agreement applies to paid search and content match and does not apply to algorithmic search.”

Yahoo! believes that this agreement will enable the Company to better monetize Yahoo!’s search inventory in the United States and Canada. At current monetization rates, this is an approximately $800 million annual revenue opportunity. In the first 12 months following implementation, Yahoo! expects the agreement to generate an estimated $250 million to $450 million in incremental operating cash flow.”

And what might it generate for Google? The companies are hoping for at least $83 million gross — every 4 months. From Yahoo’s latest SEC filing:

Google may terminate the Services Agreement if, after ten months after the Services are first launched, and each month thereafter, the gross revenues recognized by Google under the Services Agreement are less than $83,333,333 for the four prior calendar months.

Anyway … although the two companies are not required to receive regulatory approval for the deal before moving ahead with it, they’ve helpfully agreed to delay implementation for up to three and a half months while the U.S. Department of Justice reviews the arrangement. “We have been in contact with regulators about this arrangement, and we expect to work closely with them to answer their questions about the transaction,” Google’s Omid Kordestani wrote in a post to the company’s blog. “Ultimately we believe that the efficiencies of this agreement will help preserve competition.”

[Image Credit: AdRants]