Intel achieves a legal victory in the antitrust battle with the European Union
Intel announced that it has emerged victorious in the final round of its long legal battle with the European Union in an antitrust case that led to a historic fine of 1.06 billion euros. The European Union’s Court of Justice confirmed that regulatory authorities did not provide sufficient evidence to support their claims that Intel had offered illegal discounts to computer hardware manufacturers who agreed to purchase the majority of its electronic chips.
In a ruling issued on Thursday, the court rejected all the grounds on which the European Commission, the competition watchdog of the European Union, based its appeal against the previous judgment. This ruling is in line with a previous decision issued two years ago that annulled part of the Commission’s decision that accused Intel of abusing its dominance against its competitor, Advanced Micro Devices.
Despite this legal defeat being the first for the Commission in over two decades in antitrust cases, the Commission considered the court’s ruling to be full of errors and has filed an appeal against it. Intel, on the other hand, expressed its happiness with the ruling, stating that it is pleased to finally close this part of the case.
However, the case is not fully closed yet. The European Commission continues to pursue another legal battle after imposing a new fine on Intel amounting to 376.36 million euros last year. This fine focuses on aspects of the case where the Commission prevailed in front of the lower court.
The case revolves around allegations that Intel paid manufacturing companies to stop launching products containing competing chips, a behavior described as explicit restrictions under European antitrust laws. In addition, Intel has filed a lawsuit against the Commission seeking financial benefits from the original fine.
The investigations date back to the period between 2002 and 2005, where the Commission alleged that Intel hindered competition by offering discounts to computer manufacturers on the condition that they purchase at least 95% of their computer chips from Intel. The Commission also claimed that the company imposed restrictive conditions on the remaining 5% share provided to Advanced Micro Devices, which struggled to compete against Intel’s market dominance.
Despite its challenges, Intel, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, has seen a decline in its technological dominance, affecting its ambitions in the semiconductor industry in Europe. Last September, the company announced the postponement of building a factory in Germany, which was supposed to receive government subsidies worth 10 billion euros.