Intel boss: We'll win EU antitrust appeal

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 4 Sep 2009 at 08:09

Intel chief executive Paul Otellini claims his company will overturn the massive fine imposed on his company by the EU.

The chip giant was fined a record $1.45 billion in May, when the EU ruled that the company had offered illegal rebates and taken other unfair methods to squeeze rival AMD out of the processor market.

The EU claimed Intel's actions had harmed millions of PC buyers. But speaking to the BBC, Otellini insists the company did nothing wrong.

"We'll appeal the decision out of Brussels, I'm comfortable we'll win," he said. "The process was one that did not look at all the evidence and didn't balance all the facts."

End of the recession

In a wide-ranging interview, Otellini also sounded an optimistic note for the tech industry. He said that 2009 PC sales will equal those of 2008, despite the economic crisis. "Considering the depth and breadth of the recession [that] is a pretty good result," said Otellini.

He claimed PC sales remain healthy because the computer has become "indispensable" to consumers. "What I've learned in our industry is that the best technology still sells," Otellini said.

"You can't take a break - recessionary or other - from deploying new technology.

"When recessions end, as we've seen, people want the latest technology - they don't want the technology that existed when the recession started two years ago."