The manufacturer Intel is currently demanding 600 million euros from the EU. Behind this is a billion-dollar fine that Intel had to pay back then. But now they suddenly want money back.
Intel and AMD are the largest manufacturers of processors that you can install in your gaming PC. On Amazon, AMD was at times significantly ahead of Intel in sales figures. Now Intel is demanding 600 million euros from the EU – this involves a dispute over a lawsuit between the EU and the US chip manufacturer.
Intel allegedly offered anti-competitive discounts
What exactly did Intel do? The mentioned nasty practices go back a few years. Intel allegedly offered major PC manufacturers like HP or Dell a specific deal for years: If you only install our processors in your PCs, you will receive substantial discounts. Intel is said to have deliberately concealed these practices to make them less obvious.
The EU had sentenced the chip manufacturer Intel to a fine of 1.06 billion euros in a lengthy procedure, as such agreements distort competition and give rivals no chance.
Since 2009, Intel has been in a dispute with the European Court of Justice, arguing against the accusations. They claimed that all measures were lawful and should not have impaired competition. In 2017, the highest court of the European Union ordered a re-examination of the fine, and in January 2022, the fine was then lifted.
The fine has been lifted, now Intel wants interest on the penalty
Why does Intel now want 600 million euros? Intel had previously paid the fine to the EU, and after the latest decision in January 2022, they received the money back from the EU.
However, Intel now also wants interest on the money that the EU repaid. The EU was willing to pay 38 million euros to Intel, but the company believes they should receive 593 million euros. This is based on the interest rate of the European Central Bank. However, the EU does not agree to pay an additional sum to the chip manufacturer.
Against the decision to refund the billion-dollar fine to Intel, an appeal can still be filed. Therefore, the process and negotiations could still take a few more years at worst.
After all, they are arguing over a large sum of money. In comparison: In the first quarter of 2022, Intel Corporation achieved a revenue of about 18.35 billion US dollars and a net profit of around 8.1 billion US dollars.
Cooperations and agreements are always present in the hardware sector
Even today, you will always find shops or providers that position certain manufacturers or products more prominently. These often involve deals or long-term partnerships. However, since 2009, much has changed in the market, and AMD is now much better positioned than it was 10 years ago, making it difficult for any seller to simply exclude a product line from Intel or AMD from their assortment.
For years, Razer had used Intel processors in its “Razer Blade” laptops and now for the first time, they have installed AMD. You can read on MeinMMO whether the Razer Blade 14 is worth it for you.
But one manufacturer took it too far: Nvidia introduced a partner program aimed at deliberately pushing AMD’s Radeon cards out of the market. After significant criticism, the program was pulled back:
AMD says: GPU manufacturers feel pressured by Nvidia to avoid Radeon.
