EC exposes Dell's Intel fears

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 21 Sep 2009 at 11:44

The European Commission has hit back in its antitrust battle with Intel, releasing excerpts from the testimony of PC makers.

The EC imposed a record $1.45 billion fine on Intel for paying computer makers to postpone or cancel plans to launch products that used AMD chips - a practice which it claimed "harmed millions of European consumers".

However, in its appeal Intel called the fine "manifestly disproportionate", and accused the European Commission of ignoring crucial evidence from manufacturers such as Dell.

We have slower, hotter products that cost more across the board in the enterprise with no hope of closing the performance gap for 1-2 years (Dell statement)

The accusation has clearly upset the EC, which has published excerpts from the testimony of the PC makers it interviewed during its investigation in order to back up its verdict.

Among the most damning is a quote from an internal Dell presentation held in 2003, in which the company claimed Intel's retaliation "could be severe and prolonged with impact to all lines of business" should the company switch to AMD.

The excerpt also reveals that Dell complained to Intel that their agreement was making the PC manufacturer uncompetitive.

"AMD is a great threat to our business. Intel is increasingly uncompetitive to AMD which results in Dell being uncompetitive. We have slower, hotter products that cost more across the board in the enterprise with no hope of closing the performance gap for 1-2 years," Dell's testimony reads.

HP told the Commission that Intel's massive rebates were offered on an unwritten requirement "that HP should purchase at least 95% of its business desktop system from Intel".

A December 2006 email from a Lenovo executive admitted the PC maker had cut a "lucrative deal" under which "Intel will not allow us to launch AMD".

Intel says it is reviewing the documents.