The European Commission fined Intel Corp. $400 million after charging the company with handing out lucrative rebates to computer manufacturers in exchange for installing its microprocessors exclusively in new hardware. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo
The European Commission on Friday re-imposed a $400 million fine against Intel to settle portions of a $1 billion judgment against the U.S. chipmaker as part of a 2009 antitrust ruling that was dismissed on appeal last year.
Last April, the EU General Court was forced to dismiss the $1 billion fine entirely, saying it could not determine a new penalty solely for the illegal sales restrictions, leading to Friday’s outcome of $400 million — which was a 60% lower judgment. Advertisement
The Commission first imposed the hefty penalty in 2009 after finding Intel abused its dominant position to drive out competition from smaller rivals in the global market for x86 computer chips.
At the time, the Commission found evidence that Intel handed out lucrative rebates to computer manufacturers in exchange for installing its microprocessors exclusively in new hardware.
The commission also found that the company paid laptop suppliers like HP, Acer and Lenovo to scuttle the launch of products that featured technology from Intel competitors.
The case remained on appeal for five years before the EU General Court threw out Intel’s rebuttal in 2014. However, in 2017 the EU Court of Justice reinstated the appeal and referred the matter back to the EU General Court, saying the European Commission needed to clarify its rules on conditional rebates, and when and how they might infringe on antitrust laws. Advertisement
The court also called for a further review of whether the conditional rebates were indeed stifling market competition.
Last year in April, the case came back before the General Court, which ruled to dismiss parts of the 2009 decision on conditional rebates, while ruling that Intel was guilty of breaking antitrust laws by restricting sales from its competitors.
Meanwhile, the 2022 General Court ruling on the conditional rebates remains on appeal, which could lead to more of the fine being reimposed at a later time.
Intel was not expected to appeal 2022 court decision.
Friday’s news comes amid a global antitrust crackdown on the big tech giants, which have been increasingly accused of using their indomitable size and reach to limit competition while bullying customers and rivals into using their products exclusively.
