Intel hit with $400 mln EU antitrust fine in decades-old case (updated)

Acer Incorporated

22/09/2023 11:18

(Adds Intel did not immediately respond to requests for
comment, details)
    By Foo Yun Chee and Bart H. Meijer
       BRUSSELS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Intel  INTC.O  was fined
376 million euros ($400 million) on Friday in an EU antitrust
case stemming from actions the U.S. chipmaker took between 2002
and 2006.
    An initial record fine of 1.06 billion euros in 2009 was
thrown out last year by the Luxembourg-based General Court,
Europe's second highest.
    The court, however, agreed with the European Commission that
Intel illegally excluded rivals from the market which prompted
the EU antitrust watchdog to re-open the case.
    The 2009 ruling accused Intel of blocking rival Advanced
Micro Devices  AMD.O .
    On Friday the EU watchdog said it had re-imposed a fine for
practices between November 2002 and December 2006 when Intel
paid HP  HPE.N , Acer  2353.TW  and Lenovo  0992.HK  to halt or
delay rival products.
    "The General Court confirmed that Intel's naked restrictions
amounted to an abuse of dominant market position under EU
competition rules," the European Commission said in a statement.
    Intel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
    The Commission has appealed the General Court's ruling last
year at the EU Court of Justice, Europe's top court.
    ($1 = 0.9403 euros)

 (Reporting by Bart Meijer; editing by Jane Merriman and Jason
Neely)
 ((Bart.Meijer@thomsonreuters.com;))