In a renewed development of a protracted legal battle, European Union antitrust authorities have levied a fresh $400 million fine on Intel. This follows a twist in the chipmaker’s fortunes, as it had seemingly secured victory in the case last year.
The European Commission imposed this 376.4 million-euro fine as a replacement for the original 1.06 billion-euro penalty issued back in 2009. The initial fine had been handed down due to allegations that Intel, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, had employed unlawful sales tactics aimed at sidelining its smaller competitor, AMD.
The commission, acting as the leading antitrust regulator for the 27-nation European bloc, has accused Intel of exploiting its dominant position in the global x86 microprocessors market. This exploitation, it claims, involved a strategy that employed rebates and sales restrictions to exclude rivals from competition.
Last year, the EU’s General Court nullified the initial ruling, citing deficiencies in the commission’s assessment of the rebates in relation to legal standards. Nevertheless, the court affirmed that Intel had indeed abused its dominant market position through the imposition of sales restrictions. However, it was unable to determine the precise allocation of the total fine between the two violations, thereby deferring to the commission to determine a revised amount.
In response, the EU regulatory body stated, “The reduced fine announced in today’s decision reflects the narrower extent of the infringement as compared to the Commission’s 2009 ruling.”
At the time of this report, Intel’s European press team had not provided an immediate response to an emailed request for comment.
(Source: Associated Press)
