Intel is appealing a 2009 fine of billions to the European Court of Justice
Intel is making one last attempt to get out of the antitrust fine of 1.06 billion euros. The processor manufacturer is going to challenge the fine imposed for abuse of its dominant market position with the European Court of Justice. Intel lost its first appeal in 2014.
The European Commission has not investigated “all relevant circumstances” in the case, an Intel lawyer said according to Bloomberg. Intel is going to the highest court in Europe, the Court of Justice, to challenge the fine again. It is not yet known when the case will be heard.
European Commissioner Neelie Kroes fined Intel in 2009 of 1.06 billion euros. Intel was fined for abusing its dominant market position. The processor manufacturer would have disadvantaged both competitors and consumers. According to Kroes, in the period from October 2002 to December 2007, Intel provided large discounts to hardware manufacturers that did not purchase x86 processors from competitor AMD. Intel had a global market share of 70 percent during that period. The high discounts would force AMD to sell its x86 processors cheaper and sometimes below cost.
Various retail chains are also said to have received unauthorized discounts. For example, MediaMarkt would not have sold PCs and laptops with AMD processors in exchange for lower prices from Intel. Intel would also have done its utmost to keep the prohibited practices secret. The case began in 2000, following a complaint from AMD about Intel’s business practices.
After being fined, Intel appealed to the Court of First Instance of the European Communities, the second highest court in Europe. In 2012, the CPU maker was given the opportunity to explain its arguments. Intel lost that appeal in 2014; none of Intel’s arguments that the fine is disproportionate to the allegations makes sense, the European court ruled at the time.
The fine of €1.06 billion was equivalent to 4.5 percent of Intel’s 2008 global revenue. Intel has always labeled the fine as “severely disproportionate” and the company argued that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegation. that the rebates were illegal and that they significantly affected AMD’s position.