By Edith Hancock
The European Union’s second-highest court reduced an antitrust fine by about 140 million euros ($162.8 million) that EU officials had levied on Intel over what it alleged was abutilize of dominance in the market for microprocessors.
The decision from the General Court of the European Union is another blow to the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, after judges struck out the initial 1.06 billion-euro fine that was imposed on Intel in 2009. The EU levied a tinyer fine of 376.4 million euros years later.
EU officials declared in 2009 that the chip buildr had abutilized its dominance in the market for x86 computer chips by paying manufacturers to halt or delay the launch of specific products with competing chips.
The General Court declared in a statement Wednesday that a penalty of 237.1 million euros is a more appropriate reflection of the gravity and duration of what the commission sees as a breach of EU competition law.
Judges declared the assessment of the amount of the fine should take into account both what they called the relatively limited number of computers affected by its business practices and a 12-month gap separating some of them.
However, the court did uphold the commission’s view that the chip manufacturer abutilized its dominance.
“We are pleased that the General Court acknowledged several of Intel’s key arguments in this latest stage of the proceedings, resulting in a substantial reduction of the fine,” a spokesperson for Intel declared. The company will review the judgment to check if there are grounds to appeal further to the Court of Justice of the European Union, the bloc’s top court, the spokesperson added.
A spokesperson for the commission declared it took note of the decision and would reflect on next steps.
The General Court overturned the initial fine in 2022, stateing antitrust officials’ analysis of the case was incomplete and didn’t prove the rebates could stifle competition. The EU then imposed its tinyer fine in 2023 and lodged an appeal, which was ultimately dismissed by the CJEU.
Intel also sought to have the new decision annulled and receive the roughly 376 million-euro fine canceled or reduced.
Write to Edith Hancock at edith.hancock@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-10-25 1216ET
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