Raids on Intel
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AMD is rubbing its hands with glee after learning the European Commission raided Intel’s European offices.

Intel confirmed the raids at its offices in Spain, Italy, Germany and England, and said that it was cooperating fully with the Commission. This action by the EC takes place against a backdrop of increasing scrutiny of Intel’s business practices.

“The investigations are being carried out within the framework of an ongoing competition case,” said European Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd.


In June, AMD filed a 48-page complaint in U.S. federal district court against Intel on how it has allegedly unlawfully maintained its monopoly in the x86 microprocessor market by engaging in worldwide coercion of customers from dealing with AMD. The company is convinced that Intel coerced 38 companies, including Dell and Sony to install Intel chips into their computers through seven types of illegality across three continents. Dell in the United Kingdom has confirmed it has had visits from the EC at Dell’s offices located in the south of England.

The U.S. litigation follows a recent ruling from the Fair Trade Commission of Japan (JFTC) on March 8, which found that Intel abused its monopoly power to exclude fair and open competition, violating Section 3 of Japan’s Antimonopoly Act. These findings reveal that Intel deliberately engaged in illegal business practices to stop AMD’s increasing market share by imposing limitations on Japanese PC manufacturers. Intel did not contest these charges.