The European Commission has fined Intel €1.06bn and ordered
the vendor to halt rebates and other practices designed to
undermine rival AMD.
The spectre of a fine has been hanging over Intel for months as
the EC moved through an investigation that became increasingly
bitter as the vendor accused the European governing body of being
biased in its handling of the case.
The first indications that the EC was likely to find against
Intel emerged last summer when some newswires picked up on insider
reports that there had already been conclusions reached that Intel
acted in an anti-competitive way.
Intel was found to have abused its dominant position in the chip
market for five years, from late 2002 to the end of 2007 and to
have used its market leading position to muscle out AMD.
Neelie Kroes, European commissioner for competition policy,
announced the fine and outlined the reasons for finding against
Intel, which it believed had continued to abuse its market
position.
"The Commission has ordered Intel to cease the illegal practices
immediately, to the extent that they are still ongoing, and to
refrain from these and any equivalent practices in the future. The
Commission will be monitoring Intel's compliance closely," she
said.
"Given that Intel has harmed millions of European consumers by
deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for over
five years, the size of the fine should come as no surprise."
"The Commission Decision contains evidence that Intel went to
great lengths to cover-up many of its anti-competitive actions.
Many of the conditions mentioned above were not to be found in
Intel's official contracts," added Kroes.
The case first came to light when AMD filed a complaint in 2000
that alleged that manufacturers had been paid not to use its
chips.
"The Commission Decision contains evidence that Intel went to
great lengths to cover-up many of its anti-competitive actions.
Many of the conditions mentioned above were not to be found in
Intel's official contracts," added Kroes.
This story first appeared onMicroScope.co.uk.