14 DAY TRIAL // Chip manufacturer Intel was represented by its CEO, Paul Otellini, during the hearings with the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium. The company had to fight the allegations brought by its Arch-rival regarding antitrust practices on the European market.
The hearings took place behind closed doors, as previously reported, and Intel's spokespersons declined to provide additional information on Otellini's discussions with the European watchdog. However, they claimed that the company's "position that the microprocessor market is competitive and continues to behave in a competitive manner." The hearings also continued on Wednesday, yet Otellini had to leave one day earlier, after the first day of discussions.
The AMD spokesperson claimed that Advanced Micro Devices also attended the hearings during Tuesday's session. Apart from Intel and AMD, other major industry players attended the first day of hearings, such as Hewlett-Packard and officials from BEUC, the European Consumers' Organization.
"This EC hearing brings Intel one big step closer to its day of public reckoning with the truth: That it has plotted systematically, curbing competition and the pace of innovation, and harming consumers everywhere," said a spokesman for AMD.
Monique Goyens, director general of BEUC said that the organization's attendance to the Brussels hearings is part of its duties, as the European Consumers' Organization needs to ensure that the competition policy in the IT industry complies with consumer's interests and rights. She also added that the price of computer microprocessors impacts the final price the consumer has to pay for a complete computing system, and the harm inflicted to consumers was overlooked until now.
The lawsuit had been filed by world's second largest x86 chip manufacturer, and was grounded on the fact that Intel would offer substantial rebates to its OEM customers, if they decided to refuse AMD's processors. The European lawsuit is just a part of a larger legal action triggered by AMD against Intel in North America, Japan and South Korea.
If the regulators rule in favor of AMD, they will apply a fine of up to 10% of Intel's annual revenue, which should account for $3.2 billion, based on the company's $35.4 billion revenue in 2006. Until now, the highest fines collected by the European Commission reached a total of EUR1.68 billion, or about $2.5 billion at current exchange rates, from Microsoft, that had been found guilty of abusing European antitrust rules.