Comment by izacus

The "required" in that sentence should be read strictly: some customers, mainly governmental, wouldn't have bought Intel chips in the first place without access to alternative suppliers (AMD and previously VIA). Intel had to give in.

Neither company were like they are now back then. Intel needed a second supplier for their chips because nobody trusted manufacturing from a single source provider.

I read GP to mean that Intel had strong incentive to cooperate in order to make the initial sale. That’s where the customer need was relevant.