Intel Hit With $1.45 Billion Fine From EU
The European Union has fined Intel a record breaking $1.45 billion in relation to antitrust charges against the company.
European Antitrust regulators have been reviewing Intel’s case for a very long time, believing the company’s pricing model was an attempt to drive competition out of the market. Intel denied the charges related to rebates offered as long as manufacturers agreed to obtain the majority of their processors from Intel as well as paying them to either to delay or cancel the launch of AMD based products. The company maintained its actions were within legal boundaries.
In a statement this morning, the EU’s Competition Commissioner says Intel “harmed millions of European consumers deliberately” and the fines shouldn’t surprise anyone. "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," said Neelie Kroes.
Intel on the other hand is not happy and plans to appeal the decision, claiming it “ignores the reality of the highly competitive microprocessor market.” The fine itself amounts to a mere 4.15 percent of Intel’s annual revenue ($38 billion in 2008), and given that the European Union is, by law, allowed to fine up to 10 percent of that figure, we’re a little surprised at the leniency of it all.
The decision comes amid speculation that Intel could come under similar scrutiny in the United States following resolute statements from the White House regarding anti competitive behavior.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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matt2k I hope this means lower prices all round :)Reply
though it will likely only affect OEM builds n such. tis a pity.
and that is taking into account that intel will stop doing this... -
matt2k oh and kudos to whover figured out how to remove that first post being a summary of the article. was starting to bug meReply -
SneakySnake I really hope that AMD will finally be allowed back into the market now. Sure there CPU's aren't quite as good on the performance scale, but you get immense bang for you buck. The Phenom II 955 can hit 4 GHz without passing 1.5 voltsReply -
scook9 +1 and +1. although I am dissappointed in Intel. Yes they make nice processors, but what the hell. If the EU ruling holds, there is NO way nothing will happen here in America. I don't want Intel pulling this shit here, but I don't want them running around nudered and scared either. They HAVE to appeal the EU fine regardless of amount - and yes they were lucky it was so "little" - because not doing so says they were guilty, just like prepaying a traffic ticket, it is admitting the guilt.Reply -
hikayu oh so this mean what ? stop marketing intel's latest chip and sell only crappy old chip ? come on ! it's nbot intel's fault AMD cant follow .thx EU , way to boost the darn market.Reply -
m3kt3k BS. This is not about AMD its about the EU needing money. AMD would not be in the trouble it is in if they made a better product. I used to be an AMD fan boy but it comes down to Performance. Intel is just faster.Reply -
randomizer scook9If the EU ruling holds, there is NO way nothing will happen here in America. I don't want Intel pulling this shit here, but I don't want them running around nudered and scared either.It's already happened in the US.Reply -
shqtth AMD cpus could be awesome if AMD just had the cash comming in.Reply
I say that AMD is competing pretty awesome for a company that has been kicked in the nuts. So if AMD just had those extra sales, well that would put amd back on track.
AMD had to do that wierd Fab thing becuase it lacked cash. AMD would still be a whole (not having to sell out their fabs in a wierd way)if they were not kicked in the nuts.
When the Athlon first came out AMD was increasing market share like crazy and yet for some reason they were stuck thanks to intel.
Could you imagine what AMD would be like today if Intel played fair? -
shqtth The scary thing about the EU as the EU is pretty big, is that the EU could impose import duties/taxes on Intel CPUs if it wanted to level the playing field. And that would affect a lot of countries/sales. Or if Intel doesn't pay the fine, it could ban the sales and import of Intel CPUs in the EU. Either way it would be a plus for AMD.Reply