Intel gains boost in battle against EU antitrust fine (updated)

Acer Incorporated

18/01/2024 09:51

(Adds detail)
    By Foo Yun Chee
       BRUSSELS, Jan 18 (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Intel's
 INTC.O  fight against a 1.06 billion euro ($1.2 billion) EU
antitrust fine was boosted on Thursday by an adviser to Europe's
top court finding EU regulators at fault on their economic
analysis.
    The case dates from 2009 when the European Commission fined
Intel for trying to thwart rival Advanced Micro Devices by
giving rebates to computer makers Dell  DI.UL , Hewlett-Packard
Co, NEC  6701.T  and Lenovo  0992.HK  for buying most of their
chips from Intel.
    Regulators generally oppose rebates offered by dominant
companies on concerns they may be anti-competitive, while
companies in turn say enforcers must prove that discounts are
anti-competitive effects before sanctioning them.
    A lower tribunal had in 2022 scrapped the fine, prompting
the EU competition enforcer to appeal to the Luxembourg-based
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
    CJEU Advocate General Laila Medina, who only focused on two
of the six grounds of appeal, said judges should dismiss both of
those grounds. 
    "The court should confirm that the Commission erred in
applying the AEC test with respect to HP and Lenovo," she said
in a non-binding opinion.
    The AEC test assesses to what extent equally efficient
competitors can still compete despite rebates offered by the
dominant company.
    The CJEU, which will rule in the coming months, follows the
majority of such recommendations.
    The Commission last year re-opened the case and handed out a
376-million-euro fine to Intel, citing illegal payments made by
the company between November 2002 and December 2006 to HP, Acer
 2353.TW  and Lenovo to halt or delay rival products.
    The case is C-240/22 P Commission v Intel Corporation.

 (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by David Goodman and Hugh
Lawson)
 ((foo.yunchee@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 585 2866; Reuters
Messaging: foo.yunchee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))