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Europe’s General Court has delivered judgment in the long-running antitrust dispute involving Intel. The court rejected Intel's primary objection to the European Commission's allegation that the company abused its dominant position. The ruling confirms that Intel acted to limit competition in the x86 CPU market.
Judges reduced the financial penalty by approximately €140 million and set the fine at €237,105,540. While the original 2023 fine stood at €376 million, the court said the lower figure better reflects the gravity and duration of the infringement.
The case traces back to a 2009 Commission decision that imposed a record fine of €1.06 billion. The penalty later faced legal challenge, pushing the Commission to reimpose a narrower fine in 2023 focused on direct sales restrictions. The current judgment follows this reissued finding.
According to prosecutors, Intel paid major PC makers to delay or limit rival chips from AMD between 2002 and 2006. Regulators call those actions “naked restrictions” that blocked competitors from the market. The court accepted this view while trimming the fine for reasons tied to scope and impact.
The ruling matters to the wider chip industry and to Intel’s corporate comeback story. Intel now moves forward while scaling production of new chips. The company’s Panther Lake processor, built on the advanced 18A process, enters volume production later this year. Panther Lake aims to power AI-enabled laptops and to showcase Intel’s manufacturing progress.
Legal options remain. Either party may seek review at the EU Court of Justice on points of law. The decision still carries reputational costs for Intel. The finding reaffirms the European Commission’s authority to police market abuse. It also signals that regulators will keep close watch on dominant firms in key tech sectors.
Market watchers are closely watching two trends. First, any appeal that could reshape the final legal outcome. Second, Intel’s commercial performance with new nodes and chips. The verdict closes a chapter in a two-decade legal battle and opens another as Intel accelerates its technical push.
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