US chipmaker Intel Corp yesterday lost its challenge against a record 1.06 billion euro (US$1.44 billion) fine handed down by EU antitrust regulators five years ago for blocking rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD).
The European Commission in its 2009 decision said Intel tried to thwart AMD by giving rebates to PC makers Dell Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co, Japan’s NEC Corp and Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) for buying most of their computer chips from Intel.
The EU competition authority said Intel also paid German retail chain Media Saturn Holding GmbH to stock only computers with its chips.
Judges at the Luxembourg-based General Court backed the Commission’s decision.
“The Commission demonstrated to the requisite legal standard that Intel attempted to conceal the anticompetitive nature of its practices and implemented a long-term, comprehensive strategy to foreclose AMD from the strategically most-important sales channels,” the court said.
Judges said the EU watchdog had not been heavy-handed with the level of the fine, equal to 4.15 percent of Intel’s 2008 turnover, versus a possible maximum of 10 percent. While European Commission penalties rarely hit the top figure, the rising level of fines is a source of worry for many companies.
“The General Court considers that none of the arguments raised by Intel supports the conclusion that the fine imposed is disproportionate. On the contrary, it must be considered that that fine is appropriate in the light of the facts of the case,” the judges said.
Intel can take its case further to the Court of Justice of the EU, but only on points of law.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last