BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission on Friday said it had re-imposed a fine of 376.36 million euros ($400.26 million) on Intel for a previously established abuse of its dominant position in the market for computer chips.
The decision follows a partial annulment by the EU’s General Court in 2022 of a 1.06 billion euro fine the Commission imposed on Intel in 2009 for trying to stifle rival Advanced Micro Devices in the market for so-called x86 central processing units (CPU’s).
The court at the time dismissed the Commission’s finding that rebates given by Intel to computer makers had distorted competition.
In its new decision, the Commission said the fine was now based on payments made by Intel between 2002 and 2006 to computer makers Hewlett Packard, Acer and Lenovo to halt or delay the launch of specific products containing competitors’ x86 CPUs.
The court last year had confirmed that these payments had amounted to an abuse of market power, the Commission said, but had scrapped the total fine as it was unclear to what extent the penalty related to these practices.
($1 = 0.9403 euros)
(This story has been refiled to remove an incorrect picture)
(Reporting by Bart Meijer. Editing by Jane Merriman)
