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ARTICLE · 30 JULY 2014

EU General Court Dismisses Intel’s Appeal

Van Bael & Bellis
Van Bael & Bellis
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Van Bael & Bellis

Van Bael & Bellis

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The case would indicate that any incentive by a dominant firm that might be seen as linked to loyalty risks attracting a large fine.

European UnionAntitrust/Competition Law
Van Bael Bellis
Van Bael Bellis
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On 12 June 2014, the General Court issued a judgment dismissing Intel's appeal against the Commission decision of 13 May 2009 finding that the company abused its dominant position on the market for x86 central processing units ("CPUs"), and imposing a fine of € 1.06 billion.

In its original decision, the Commission contended that Intel abused this dominant position by implementing a strategy aimed at foreclosing Advanced Micro Devices ("AMD") from the market. This strategy allegedly consisted of: (i) granting rebates and payments to OEM customers on the condition that they purchase, from Intel, all or almost all of their x86 CPUs (either in total or for a particular segment of the OEM market); (ii) granting rebates and payments to OEM customers on the condition that they delay or postpone the sale of computers containing AMD chips; and (iii) awarding payments to retailer Media-Saturn, conditional on the exclusive sale of computers containing Intel's x86 CPUs (see VBB

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