Intel's rivalry with AMD

CALIFORNIA, USA: The European Commission imposed a record 1.06 billion euro ($1.45 billion) fine on chipmaker Intel Corp on Wednesday and ordered it halt illegal rebates and other practices intended to squeeze out rival AMD.

Following are five facts on the rivalry between the two:

Market share

Last year Intel made 80.5 percent of the microprocessors that power personal computers, gaining share each quarter, helped by the success of its Atom chip in the emerging netbook sector and by the continued strength of its brands and products in the desktop, notebook and server segments.

AMD had 12 percent of the market.

The firms' combined market share rose last year for the third year in a row to 92.5 percent, compared with 90.9 percent in 2006, according to research firm iSuppli.

Relative size

Intel, based in Santa Clara, California, made revenues of $37.6 billion in 2008. It employed 83,900 staff at the end of 2008, more than half in the United States. Its market value is $85.4 billion and it is the world's biggest chip maker.

AMD, based in Sunnyvale, California, made revenues of $5.8 billion in 2008. It employs about 11,000 people and has a market value of $2.6 billion.

Case in Brussels

The EU executive said Intel paid computer makers to postpone or cancel plans to launch products that used AMD chips, paid illegal, secret rebates so computer makers would use mostly or entirely Intel chips, and paid a major retailer to stock only computers with its chips.

It ordered Intel "cease the illegal practices immediately to the extent that they are still ongoing." Intel may continue to offer rebates, so long as they are legal, the Commission said.

It said Intel must pay the fine within three months of the date of the notification of the decision.

The U.S. tech group has denied the charges that it was abusing its market dominance, arguing its conduct had been lawful and beneficial to clients and consumers.

Cases elsewhere

December 2008 Intel filed a formal complaint to overturn an earlier South Korean antitrust ruling that it had abused its dominant market position.

Intel said in a statement its filing to the Seoul High Court asserted that the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) made substantial factual and legal errors in formulating its final opinion.

The KFTC said in June 2008 that Intel offered rebates to South Korean personal computer makers in return for their not buying microprocessors from AMD. Intel was also fined.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission launched a probe into Intel after South Korean authorities fined it for offering rebates in return for not buying AMD products.

The group faces more legal woes as a U.S. lawsuit brought by AMD is set to go to court in 2010. Intel also faces dozens of separate class actions, filed in various U.S. courts, modelled on the AMD complaint.

U.S. License Battle

In March 2009 Intel accused AMD of breaching the terms of a cross-licensing agreement between the two, a charge that AMD denied.

Intel alleged its rival ran foul of a 2001 patent agreement when it created the Globalfoundries joint venture, the $4.3 billion semiconductor manufacturer spun off from AMD.