In less than a few days after Intel was fined for having unfair prices and for giving rebates to PC makers by the European Union, Nvidia decided to give their opinion on the chip maker company. The European Union decided to investigate Intel after AMD filed a report against them.
Jen-Hsun Huang, the CEO of Nvidia said that Intel chip pricing was unfair but said that they are not planning to file an antitrust action lawsuit against Intel for now. Intel sells Atom chips for $45 for a single unit, but sells three-chip sets for $25. The extremely discounted price for bulk units lures customers away from AMD. “That seems pretty unfair,” stated Huang. “We ought to be able to compete and serve that market.”
“We compete fairly. We do not force bundles on any computer makers and customers can purchase Atom individually or as part of the bundle,” responded Intel spokesman Bill Calder. “If you want to purchase the chip set, obviously there is better pricing.”
The European government may impose a massive fine on chipmaker Intel Corporation. The size of the penalty will be discussed amongst 27 government agencies in Europe. The European governments began their investigation when Advanced Micro Devices filed a complaint against Intel.
The European commission charged Intel with abusing its dominant position by giving large rebates to computer makers to stay with them, even beyond the actual cost of chips.
One of the most largest fines paid due to a ruling by the European commission is Microsoft. Microsoft was forced to pay $663 million for abusing dominance in a market as well. According to the New York Times, the fine imposed on Intel may even reach $1.3 billion.
Microsoft’s favorite government agency the European Union is no longer watching over the software giant full-time. The European Commission stated that they no longer need a full-time trustee to make sure Microsoft is obeying the EU’s antitrust orders. Microsoft has been sharing technical information with rivals that helps make their products compatible with Microsoft servers.
Neil Barrett, a computer science professor was appointed by the EU to assess Microsoft data. Microsoft lost a legal battle in 2007 to the EU. Microsoft had to give I.P. to rivals as a result. Microsoft stated that they will remain committed to complying with the EU’s antitrust orders.
The European Union and Microsoft don’t have the best relationship. I believe part of the reason why Microsoft made the .docx file format is because of pressure from the EU. But the EU doesn’t want to stop there either. They gave Mozilla a seat at the table for the antitrust case against Microsoft for packaging Internet Explorer exclusively with the Windows operating system line.
Mozilla was granted “third-party status” last week. This gives them the option to voice objections and view confidential documentation regarding the case. The European Commission is the executive arm of the EU and are the ones pushing for the case. The case was initiated by Opera, who gave two months for Microsoft to respond to the allegations. Opera is another browser company.
Mitchell Baker, chairwoman of Mozilla wrote that she agreed with the EC’s allegation that packaging IE with Windows harms competition and consumer choice. Here is a portion of Mitchell’s statements from her blog:
The extent of the damage is so great that it makes it difficult to figure out an effective and timely remedy. I believe it’s worth some effort to try. It’s easy to look at Firefox market share and assume the problem is gone or the damage is undone. But that’s not the case. The drag on innovation and choice caused by Microsoft’s actions remains. At Mozilla we work to reduce this drag through direct action, and the results are gratifying. If the EC can identify an effective remedy that also serves to improve competition, innovation and choice, I would find it most welcome.
