Computer microchip manufacturer Intel has been slammed with a $1.8 billion fine, (€1.06 billion), by the European Commission for anti-competitive behaviour.
The company, which is the world’s biggest chip manufacturer and supplies 80% of the processors used in personal computers, is also under investigation in the US for similar reasons.
The Commission said that Intel paid computer manufacturers to abandon plans for products that featured chips made by rival AMD.
“Intel has harmed millions of European consumers by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years,” European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.
Despite the decision, Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said that the company will appeal at the EU’s Court of First Instance.
“Intel takes exception to this decision. We believe the decision is wrong and ignores the reality of a highly competitive microprocessor market,” he said.
But Kroes said that sanctions will begin immediately, in a move similar to action taken against Microsoft during an antitrust case that saw action taken against the company even during its appeal.
The $1.8 billion fine is equivalent to 4.15% of Intel’s total revenue in 2008.
Bruce Sewell, part of Intel’s legal team, said that the company has not yet discussed with the EU how it will comply with the order, and that “we will try to be compliant”.
The company is also facing antitrust suits against it in Japan and South Korea. The fine is the result of an eight-year investigation, and is the largest that the European Union has undertaken.
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Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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