HomeWinBuzzer NewsJudge Suggests EU Court Ruling on Intel Antitrust Appeal 'Sometime next Year'

Judge Suggests EU Court Ruling on Intel Antitrust Appeal ‘Sometime next Year’

The Intel antitrust case, totaling a fine of over $1 billion dollars, is expected to stretch into next year. This news follows a statement by an EUCJ court advisor that questioned the harm done to the company's competitor, AMD.

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A judge has revealed that the Europe's top court is expected to rule on 's antitrust appeal next year.

Seven years ago, Intel was hit with a $1.19 billion for bad practices against rival AMD. It had been providing rebates to Dell, HP, and Lenovo for buying the majority of chips from Intel, rather than its competitors.

“The effects of these practices were complementary, in that they significantly diminished competitors' ability to compete on the merits of their x86 CPUs,” said the general court in Luxembourg. “Intel's anti-competitive conduct thereby resulted in a reduction of consumer choice and in lower incentives to innovate.”

Intel quickly challenged the decision, but its arguments were rejected. The court ruled that the Intel antitrust sanction was not too severe, noting it was only 4.15% of the company's 2008 turnover.

European Court of Justice Ruling

Of course, Intel didn't give up there. It took the appeal to the European Court of Justice, its highest court. Court advisor Nils Wahl questioned last year if the practice really harmed competitors.

He said the lower court did not provide evidence, referring it back for a fresh review. His argument is that Lenovo and HP could still buy a significant amount of x86 CPUs from AMD. The court is considering the case as a result, and that will take a while.

At a Concurrance-organized press conference, General Court vice-president Marc van der Woude said “I expect a judgment sometime next year.”

Reuters suggests that the case may set a precedent, and could affect Google and Qualcomm, who are both “in the EU's crosshairs”.

SourceReuters
Ryan Maskell
Ryan Maskellhttps://ryanmaskell.co.uk
Ryan has had a passion for gaming and technology since early childhood. Fusing the skills from his Creative Writing and Publishing degree with profound technical knowledge, he enjoys covering news about Microsoft. As an avid writer, he is also working on his debut novel.

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