Intel braces for billion Euro fine
Biggest ever fine expected
European competition authorities are expected to release their verdict on Intel's allegedly anti-competitive behaviour this week, and it's not looking good for the chip maker.
The Commission's decision was sent to national bodies in April and will be presented to the Commission on Wednesday. The court is widely expected to find Intel guilty of anticompetitive behaviour.
'Steely' Neelie Kroes, Europe's Competition Commissioner, can fine Intel up to ten per cent of its annual turnover, which would mean a $3.8bn penalty. That would beat the €1.35bn fine, the previous largest, which Microsoft agreed to pay.
Intel is also likely to be hit with behavioural orders as well as a fine. The company will have to change the way it offers marketing funds and rebates to partners.
The case has been dragging on since 2000 when AMD made its complaint. Last year Intel and Dixons offices across Europe were raided by competition investigators.
The chip giant is accused of offering original equipment manufacturers and retailers rebates and marketing funds if they agreed not to carry products using chips from rival AMD.
Intel asked for more time to respond to the Commission's Statement of Objections back in January, the EC refused. ®
COMMENTS
@Mark Aggleton
It varied according to company, duration and placement of Ad. frankly, I would have thought applying a range to such a broad industry was obvious.
Coat. Get yours.
Ad funding
In response to @Heff - Intel funds up to 55% of the costs of advertising, provided there is an Intel logo somewhere in the ad. It's a massive subsidy for the tech industry and one which they snaffle up like crazy.
Microsoft
"The software giant is accused of offering original equipment manufacturers and retailers rebates and marketing funds if they agreed not to carry products using operating systems from rivals."
So EU, when do you start on this one?
Fiction! It's fiction! Just fiction!
There's no truth to this at all. It's just a scene from a nightmare caused by too much currywurst and bad wine:
Dear computer user,
You have been identified as a registered user of the [redacted] firmware product.
Due to recent Court rulings, [redacted] will cease doing business in the European Union after [CENSORED] and all [redacted] licenses for users located in the EU will expire. Your computer may stop working as a result.
[Redacted]'s liability is limited by terms of the End User License Agreement included with your computer when new, and excludes both implied warranty and direct or indirect damages of any sort.
We regret any inconvenience this may cause .
Regards...
@Heff
"That AD was 30-100% subsidised by Intel"
You obviously have no idea what you're talking about - that's a hell of a percentage range.... Complete guesstimate
