Intel Hit Again: EU Re-imposes €376M Fine Over Market Dominance Allegations

Intel Corp INTC is again facing financial repercussions in Europe. The European Commission has decided to re-impose a fine on the tech giant, amounting to approximately €376.36 million. This decision comes after Intel allegedly abused its dominant position in the x86 central processing unit (CPU) market with practices that affected competitors like Advanced Micro Devices, Inc AMD.

The initial fine, a staggering €1.06 billion, was levied against Intel in 2009. However, this decision faced challenges in the courts. The General Court, Europe's second-highest court, partially annulled the 2009 decision in 2022, mainly targeting the Commission's findings related to Intel's conditional rebate practices. Despite this, the court upheld the Commission's stance on Intel's "naked restrictions," deemed violations of EU competition rules, Bloomberg reports.

Revisiting The Decision

The 2009 decision accused Intel of two primary anticompetitive practices. First, Intel allegedly offered hidden rebates to computer manufacturers, contingent on them purchasing almost all their x86 CPUs from Intel, sidelining competitors like AMD. Second, Intel was accused of paying these manufacturers to delay or halt the launch of products containing CPUs from competitors, explicitly limiting the sales channels available for these products.

Current Stance

Following the General Court's 2022 judgment, the European Commission has adopted a new decision which solely focuses on the "naked restrictions" between November 2002 and December 2006. During this period, Intel reportedly paid major computer manufacturers, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE, Acer, and Lenovo, to limit the launch and distribution of products containing competitors' x86 CPUs.

Price Action: INTC shares were down 0.52% to $34.47 at last check Friday.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.