The world’s largest microchip maker, Intel, was sued by New York’s attorney general for allegedly using bullying, bribery and coercion to protect its dominant market position in a lawsuit that followed a record fine for anti-competitive behaviour levied on the company by the European Commission.
After a 20-month investigation, attorney general Andrew Cuomo accused Intel of striking deals in which computer makers such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM agreed to choose its microprocessors over those of competitors in return for billions of kickbacks disguised as “rebates”.
“In Intel’s market, there were no laws of supply and demand,” said Cuomo. “Instead, it was the law of ‘my way or the highway’.”
Cuomo’s action follows complaints by Intel’s leading rival, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), over unfair tactics in sales of microprocessors. The charges are along similar lines to those laid by the European Commission, which imposed a €1.03bn (£922m) fine on Intel in May, in the biggest punishment ever enacted by Brussels for anti-competitive behaviour.
“Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold on the market,” said Cuomo. “Intel’s actions not only unfairly restricted potential competitors, but also hurt average consumers who were robbed of better products and lower prices.”
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