Computer chip titan Intel Corp. said Friday it had received a subpoena this week from US antitrust regulators after a two-year informal review on "competition in the microprocessor market."
The announcement increases the likelihood of formal antitrust charges against the world's biggest chipmaker.
In a statement, the California company said it had received a subpoena on Wednesday from the Federal Trade Commission as part of its review.
"Since 2006 Intel has been working closely with the FTC on an informal inquiry into competition in the microprocessor market and has provided the commission staff with a considerable amount of information and thousands of documents," the statement said.
"By proceeding to a subpoena, the Commission will be able to obtain not only information that Intel has already committed to provide but also information from other parties."
Intel said it "will work cooperatively with the FTC staff to comply with the subpoena and continue providing information."
It added that "the company believes its business practices are well within US law."
Intel said the industry "is fiercely competitive" and noted that prices for microprocessors declined by 42.4 percent from 2000 to end of 2007.
"When competitors perform and execute the market rewards them. When they falter and under-perform the market responds accordingly," the company said.
Intel has faced antitrust charges in the European Union as well as South Korea and Japan
After a six-year investigation, the European Commission accused Intel last July of offering "substantial" rebates to computer makers that mostly used its chips.
Europe's top competition watchdog also alleged that Intel had made payments to clients to delay or cancel products using chips made by its US rival Advanced Micro Devices, and selling its own chips at below cost in some cases.
AMD, the second biggest computer chip maker, has long accused Intel of using its grip on the market for microchips -- the brains of personal computers -- to choke off competition.
South Korea's anti-trust watchdog this week fined Intel 25 million dollars for abusing its dominant market position after a long-running investigation.
Japan's anti-monopoly watchdog in 2005 concluded Intel had used "unfair" practices to secure customers.
Ed Black, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association -- an industry group that represents AMD and other firms concerned about competition issues -- hailed the news as positive for competitive practices.
"We think there is no choice now, that the facts and evidence are strong enough and (the FTC) needs to open a formal investigation," Black said.
Black said that based on probes in Japan, South Korea and the EU, "there is an abundance of evidence not in Intel's favor" on anticompetitive actions.
He said Intel supplies chips for 80 percent of personal computers sold and gets 90 percent of revenues from the sector.
"This is a superdominant position," he said.
© 2008 AFP
Related stories:
Report: E-Mail Archiving Becoming a Must
A new study projects that in four years, 70 percent of corporate mailboxes will be protected by archiving software—whether hosted or client-based.
Intel Gets More Time to Explain Lost E-Mails in Antitrust Case
A judge gives the company 10 more days to find missing evidentiary e-mails—or explain what happened to them—in antitrust lawsuit brought by competitor AMD.
Microsoft subpoenaed by AMD in Intel suit
Microsoft is the latest company to be subpoenaed by chip maker Advanced Micro Devices for its antitrust lawsuit against rival Intel Corp.
AMD sues Intel over monopoly abuses
AMD announced today that it filed an antitrust complaint against Intel Corporation yesterday in U.S. federal district court for the district of Delaware under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, Sections 4 and 16 of the Clayton Act, and the California Business and Professions Code. The 48-page complaint explains in detail how Intel has unlawfully maintained its monopoly in the x86 microprocessor market by engaging in worldwide coercion of customers from dealing with AMD. It identifies 38 companies that have been victims of coercion by Intel – including large scale computer-makers, small system-builders, wholesale distributors, and retailers, through seven types of illegality across three continents.
Intel cuts electric cords with wireless power system
Intel on Thursday showed off a wireless electric power system that analysts say could revolutionize modern life by freeing devices from transformers and wall outlets.
Intel Unveils New Chip Designs
In his Intel Developer Forum keynote today, Pat Gelsinger detailed the roadmap for Intel's continued march toward pervasive, higher performance and power efficient computing. The senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group discussed new features of the company's next-generation processor family including a new turbo mode that shifts the processor into a higher gear for mind-blowing performance without a heat penalty.
First Details on a Future Intel Design Codenamed 'Larrabee'
Intel Corporation is presenting a paper at the SIGGRAPH 2008 industry conference in Los Angeles on Aug. 12 that describes features and capabilities of its first-ever forthcoming "many-core" blueprint or architecture codenamed "Larrabee."
Intel Outlines Plans for New Category of Smarter, Purpose-Built 'System on Chip' Designs
As Internet access continues to be added to all kinds of computers and devices, Intel executives outlined a plan to use its chip design expertise, factory capacity, advanced manufacturing techniques and the economics of Moore's Law to usher in a new category of highly integrated, purpose-built and Web-savvy System on Chip (SoC) designs and products. The company also unveiled its first eight such products under its Intel EP80579 Integrated Processor family for security, storage, communications, and industrial robotics.