Many folks here just don't get it. It's not about who's copying whom... it's not about who has a more elegant design - it's about delivering the tech at the time the market needs it.
64bit? Yeah it was future-proof, but if you bought it when introduced, you probably never saw 64bit with that chip (and if you are, you are running DDR1 with limited RAM with a near obsolete set of peripheral parts). Good idea... bad market timing. There was no demand/64bit infrastructure, with exception of a couple of niches.
IMC/HT? Again very good design but... needed anywhere outside of the MP server world? What made athlon good was the core and IPC efficiency - most people confuse/forget this and assume HT/IMC was responsible for the single socket gains. With Nehalem, again Intel is showing a better sense of market timing - not only will it be competitive in MP space, but also with IGP integration, potential for assymetric core designs - this appears to be the right time to get this done and debugged.
"Native" quad core? Again nice idea- TERRIBLE for manufacturing. Hard for bin splits (see Phenom power/speed problems), likely worse for yields, bad for manufacturing costs. Anyone care to ask why there was no K10 dual cores on 65nm? Intel's "glued" approach allows a much easier adjustment between dual/quad core mix; allows bin matching (possibly) and simplifies manufacturing in the wafer fabs. Oh and in 1P applications (>95% of the market), it probably really has no significant downside and allowed Intel to get to market >1 year ahead of AMD. Perhaps Intel should distribute "quad core for dummies and people who want to make money" booklets this time around?
AMD needs to do a better job on market analysis - it's not just about the best design or what is THEORETICALLY better. It's also about when it is needed and when is the market ready. As long as AMD defines themselves through Intel (as setting up across the street from Intel IDF does), they will never be AMD, the computer chip manufacturer and graphics provider; they will be that small company that competes against Intel.