According to a report by Bloomberg, Inter has just won an epic battle with the European Union over a 1.06 billion euro ($1.1 billion) fine imposed in 2009. In its final judgment, the EU Court of Justice overturned the original judgment and ruled that the regulator had not provided sufficient evidence that Intel had provided illegal kickbacks to PC manufacturers. But Inter’s misdeeds in Europe are far from over, as they are still battling a 376 million euro ($406 million) fine imposed by the European Commission last year.
In 2009, the European Union ruled that Intel illegally used hidden kickbacks to lock rivals out of the CPU market. It also found that Intel paid manufacturers to delay or completely cancel the release of products featuring AMD CPUs, a practice it called “naked restrictions.” The legal process waxed and waned over the years, but in 2017 the European Supreme Court ruled that the EU had failed to conduct an economic assessment of how Intel’s actions affected its competitors. , ordered the fine to be reconsidered.
Europe’s second-largest court found that the European Commission carried out an incomplete analysis and canceled the €1.06 billion fine in 2022. At the time, the EU said it was “unable to establish whether Intel’s kickbacks are possible or possible.” Because the analysis is incomplete, it has been pointed out that there are “anticompetitive effects.”
The European Commission has launched an appeal against this decision, which has now been upheld by the EU Court of Justice. Still, Inter did not appeal the “bare restrictions” part of the previous decision, and last year the European Commission imposed a new fine of 376 million euros on this basis. However, Intel is also fighting this fine, suing the EU to recover interest on the original, higher penalty.
Of course, the landscape surrounding processors has changed dramatically since the original ruling in 2009. At the time, Intel ruled the PC roost with an 81 percent CPU market share compared to AMD’s 12 percent. Intel’s market share has now fallen to 63 percent, leaving the company struggling in chip production behind rival TSMC, which makes most of AMD and Nvidia’s CPUs, GPUs, and AI processors. Ironically, Intel outsources much of its production, about 30 percent, to TSMC and other foundries. Fortunately, despite the manufacturing issues, the company seems to have good lawyers.
