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New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo yesterday filed an antitrust suit (PDF) against Intel in the US District Court for the District of Delaware.
The suit alleges that Intel Corporation willingly compelled or participated in several market actions design to block or impede market actions from rival firm AMD.
“Intel has engaged in a systematic worldwide campaign of illegal, exclusionary conduct to maintain its monopoly power and prices in the market for x86 microprocessors, the ‘brains’ of Personal Computers (‘PCs’),” the filing reads.
“By exacting exclusive or near-exclusive agreements from large computer makers (‘Original Equipment Manufacturers’ or ‘OEMs’) in exchange for payments totaling billions of dollars, and threatening retaliation against any company that did not heed its wishes, Intel robbed its competitors of the opportunity to challenge Intel’s dominance in key segments of the market. This illegal behavior was highly detrimental to consumers, competition, and innovation.”
The Delaware filing is very similar to that of the European Commission’s which ruled against Intel in May with a penalty of €1.07 billion.
The ongoing EC case alleges that Intel leveraged its significant financial capabilities to persuade customers into delaying or aborting AMD-powered plans in favor of products with Intel chips. The charges include paying at least one retailer to stock only Intel parts, and offering several secret rebates to make Intel processors the only economical choice.
The New York suit has requested a trial by jury, and asks for compensatory damages on five claims both civil and criminal.
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