Looks like Apple’s not the only one who’s run into trouble with the European Commission. Chip-maker Intel is the latest company to be targeted by the EC for anticompetitive measures.
The executive branch of the European Union has issued a Statement of Objections—which is about as fun as it sounds. It’s a formal accusation of antitrust violations and Intel has ten weeks to respond: cue a rash of Intel response countdown Dashboard widgets! I can only hope their response is as adorable as Apple’s.
Intel is charged on five three counts of anticompetitive behavior, namely:
Now, I have yet to snag my law degree from correspondence school, but number two there sounds pretty damning, at the least: paying companies to drop the competition’s products from their lineup? Back home we call that bribery. Apparently it sounds pretty bad in European, too.
Update: Okay, that was pretty fast. Intel has responded with a press release:
We are confident that the microprocessor market segment is functioning normally and that Intel’s conduct has been lawful, pro-competitive, and beneficial to consumers. While we would certainly have preferred to avoid the cost and inconvenience of establishing that our competitive conduct in Europe has been lawful, the Commission’s decision to issue a Statement of Objections means that at last Intel will have the opportunity to hear and respond to the allegations made by our primary competitor.Oh, it’s on.The case is based on complaints from a direct competitor rather than customers or consumers. The Commission has an obligation to investigate those complaints. However, a Statement of Objections contains only preliminary allegations and does not itself amount to a finding that there has been a violation of European Union law. Intel will now be given the chance to respond directly to the Commission’s concerns as part of the administrative process. The evidence that this industry is fiercely competitive and working is compelling. When competitors perform and execute the market rewards them. When they falter and under-perform the market responds accordingly.
