A fine of 376 million euros ($400 million) was imposed against Intel (INTC.O) on Friday due to an EU antitrust investigation into the American chipmaker’s nearly two-decade-old anti-competitive behavior to thwart competitors.
The General Court of Luxembourg, which has the second-highest fine in Europe, overturned an initial record fine of 1.06 billion euros in 2009 for the offense and other acts last year.
The EU antitrust authority reopened the case after the court sided with the European Commission that Intel had improperly barred rivals from the market.
In 2009, a judge found that Intel had obstructed competitor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O).
The EU watchdog announced on Friday that it has once again fined Intel for actions taken between November 2002 and December 2006 in which it paid HP (HPE.N), Acer (2353. TW), and Lenovo (0992. HK) to stop or delay competing goods.
The European Commission stated, “The General Court confirmed that Intel’s naked restrictions amounted to an abuse of dominant market position under EU competition rules.”
Intel declared that it was examining its options.
The business said, “We are analyzing the verdict and the fine amount to determine the possible reasons and possibilities of success of an appeal to the European Courts.
Intel is awaiting Commission approval for approximately 10 billion euros in German state subsidies to construct a chip manufacturing facility in Germany.
The other portions of the General Court’s decision from last year concerning Intel’s conditional rebate offers have been appealed by the Commission to the EU Court of Justice, the highest court in Europe.
