Intel has secured a reduction of nearly EUR140 million (approx. US$163.7 million) in its remaining EU antitrust penalty, though the bloc's second-highest court upheld the finding that the company abused its dominance in the x86 processor market, according to Reuters and Bloomberg.
The General Court ruled that the European Commission's 2023 decision correctly identified anti-competitive conduct but said the fine should be lowered from EUR376.36 million to about EUR237.1 million. Judges said the revised amount "is a more appropriate reflection of the gravity and duration of the infringement," pointing to the limited number of computer models affected and the year-long gaps between some of the practices under scrutiny.
The case concerns payments Intel made to HP, Acer, and Lenovo between 2002 and 2006 to halt or delay computers using rival processors, conduct categorized by regulators as "naked restrictions." Such arrangements formed part of a broader EU investigation that originally led to a record EUR1.06 billion fine in 2009. That penalty was largely annulled in 2022, prompting regulators to reimpose a narrower EUR376 million fine focused only on the naked-restriction elements.
Intel had challenged the 2023 decision, arguing that the reduced case scope and the nature of the remaining violations warranted a substantially lower or annulled fine. The company also claimed procedural shortcomings and questioned whether the Commission had jurisdiction over certain parts of the conduct. Those arguments were rejected by the General Court.
Despite the setback, the ruling offers partial relief. The court used its unlimited jurisdiction to adjust the penalty based on proportionality considerations, a move consistent with its finding that the infringement's market impact was more limited than implied by the Commission's original calculation.
The Commission said it will study the judgment before deciding on possible next steps. Both sides may still appeal to the EU Court of Justice on points of law, potentially extending a legal battle that has spanned nearly two decades.
Intel's latest court filing, registered as Case T-1129/23, continues to contest the proportionality of the fine and the Commission's assessment of the infringement's scope. The company maintains that the regulator failed to properly account for mitigating factors and misapplied EU rules on calculating fines tied to the value of sales.
Article edited by Jack Wu
