European Union antitrust regulators have fined Intel Corp. over $622 million after an EU court had replaced a $1.7 billion penalisation with this smaller fine.
According to the European Commission, the more minor fine was for “a previously established abuse of dominant position in the market for computer chips called x86 central processing units” after it discovered that Intel had “engaged in a series of anticompetitive practices aimed at excluding competitors from the relevant market in breach of EU antitrust rules.”
Intel had highlighted previously that the commission renewed its administrative process to conclude a fine grounded on allegedly abusive conduct that had formerly been established.
Last year, the chipmaker appeared to triumph with a historic victory in a ruling overturning one of the EU’s most vital antitrust cases, according to Bloomberg.
However, the EU General Court found that regulators made grave mistakes in their 2009 decision over allegedly illegal rebates that Intel allocated to PC makers to push out its competitor, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
Last week, the EU court “confirmed that Intel’s naked restrictions amounted to an abuse of dominant market position under EU competition rules,” the commission.
This is why the commission now assumed “a new decision imposing a fine on Intel only for the naked restrictions.”
As of now, Intel has said it’s evaluating the new verdict, “which follows from the European General Court’s 2022 vindication of Intel in the key contentions” of the case.
“While we are disappointed in a fine of this amount, we continue to focus on our future investments in the EU, and on cooperating with the EC in helping advance Europe’s semiconductor industry,” Intel said.
After these announcements were made, the shares went up 0.1% as the Russell 3000 Index Semiconductors Subsector advanced
