Observations on the European Commission’s Intel Decision

On September 21, 2009, the European Commission published a provisional non-confidential version of its May 13, 2009 decision finding that Intel Corporation (“Intel”) abused its dominant position in the market for central processing units (“CPUs”) using the x86 architecture and fining Intel €1.06 billion. The Commission concluded that Intel’s abuses were part of a continuous strategy aimed at foreclosing competition from its only significant competitor, Advanced Micro Devices (“AMD”).