AMD welcomes Intel fine

The European Commission's €1.06bn fine for Intel was today welcomed as "an important step toward establishing a truly competitive market" by AMD president Dirk Meyer.

“AMD has consistently been a technology innovation leader and we are looking forward to the move from a world in which Intel ruled, to one which is ruled by customers,” he said.

Meyer said Intel had been found guilty of abusing its dominant position in the global x86 microprocessor market and the EC said it had “harmed millions of European consumers by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years."

The Commission also stated that “there is evidence that Intel had sought to conceal the conditions associated with its payments," Meyer said in a statement issued by AMD.

Tom McCoy, AMD executive vice-president for legal affairs, said the ruling meant the industry would benefit from an end to "Intel’s monopoly-inflated pricing and Europeans would enjoy greater choice, value and innovation.”

He said Intel had failed to convince any antitrust agency that its business practices were lawful and pro-consumer, pointing out that it was fined $25.4m last year by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, and that Intel had not appealed a 2005 ruling by the Japan Fair Trade Commission that it had violated the country’s anti-monopoly laws.

"We played fair" says Intel lawyer – see Test Bed

Update: Figures corrected