Intel found guilty of anticompetitive behaviour in Japan

By Steve Malone

Posted on 8 Mar 2005 at 10:34

Intel has been found in violation of anti-trust legislation by Japan's Fair Trade Commission (JFTC). The move follows an investigation that sought to prove the company had tried to limit the sales of rival processors from companies such as AMD, VIA and Transmeta.

The allegations stemmed from 1999. Following the launch of new processors from AMD, Intel is said to have received a dent in its market share. In response the company is said to have offered deep discounts to five Japanese OEMs. The deal was on the proviso that the OEMs limited the number of purchases of chips from the competition.

Intel has now been told to stop the practice. It is reported that the Japanese authorities will ask the chip giant how it intends to reform itself. At this stage no penalties have been imposed.

For its part, AMD welcomed the development. 'The JFTC found that Intel illegally manipulated the market to exclude competition, hurting PC users around the world,' said Thomas M. McCoy, AMD's executive VP and chief administrative officer.

'Using market power illegally to limit innovation and, more importantly, consumers' freedom to choose, cannot be tolerated,' added McCoy. 'We encourage governments around the globe to ensure that their markets are not being harmed as well.'

The announcement follows raids on the offices of Intel in Japan last spring. The move is the second taken by the Japanese authorities against a US tech giant. Japan also took similar action against Microsoft.

Intel has around 90 per cent of the chip market in Japan.