Commission imposes €1.06 billion fine on Intel following exclusionary behaviour targeted at AMD

On 13 May, the European Commission announced that it had imposed a fine of €1.06 billion on Intel, for abuse of a dominant position. The Commission found that throughout the period October 2002-December 2007, Intel had a dominant position in the worldwide x86 CPU market (at least 70% market share) and that Intel had engaged in two specific forms of illegal practice. First, Intel employed rebate schemes which had an anticompetitive effect. Second, Intel made direct payments to computer manufacturers to halt or delay the launch of specific products containing competitors’ x86 CPUs and to limit the sales channels available to these products. The Commission found that these practices constituted abuses of Intel’s dominant position on the x86 CPU market that harmed consumers throughout the EEA. RBB advised AMD along with law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP.