Intel was fined 376 million euros by the European Union for paying third-party manufacturers to "prevent AMD from entering the market"

CTOnews.com, September 26, according to the EU official website, the EU recently fined Intel 376 million euros for a market monopoly case between 2002 and 2007, claiming that Intel "used naked restrictions to prevent competitors from entering the market." recently, the relevant departments released details of the case.

Back in 2009, the European Commission fined Intel 1.06 billion euros (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 8.215 billion yuan) for abusing its dominant position in the x86 computer chip market:

Provide full or partial implicit rebates to third-party computer manufacturers on the condition that they purchase all or almost all of the x86 CPU from Intel

Pay third-party computer manufacturers to stop or delay the launch of specific products that include competitor x86 CPU and limit the sales channels for these products

Since then, Intel filed an appeal, and the European Commission's assessment of Intel's conditional kickbacks was incomplete, according to the 2022 decision of the European Union General Court of Justice, which concluded that Intel's "kickbacks" and other actions were withdrawn due to "lack of relevant evidence."

However, the European Commission still found that Intel paid third-party computer manufacturers to delay or restrict products that use AMD processors in their products:

Between November 2002 and May 2005, Intel paid Hewlett-Packard on the following terms:

HP only sells commercial desktops based on its competitor AMD x86 CPU to small and medium-sized businesses

Sell relevant desktops only through direct distribution channels (not distributors)

Hewlett-Packard delayed launching its first AMD-based commercial desktop in Europe by six months.

Intel also pays Acer on the following terms:

Acer postponed the launch of its AMD-based laptop from September 2003 to January 2004.

Intel also pays Lenovo on terms as follows:

Lenovo postponed the launch of its AMD-based laptop from June 2006 to the end of 2006.

On this basis, the European Commission believes that:

As a result of these restrictions, computer manufacturers stop, postpone or restrict the commercialization of products based on competitor chipsets, which they actively plan and have consumer demand. As a result, Intel's naked restrictions have had a negative impact on market competition, depriving consumers of the right to choose.

Related reading: "the European Union fined Intel 376.36 million euros for violating antitrust rules."

Refer to Questions & Answers-Antitrust: Commission re-imposes 376.36 million fine on Intel for anticompetitive practices in the market for computer chips