PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Reuters has reported that a preliminary deal between Intel and federal antitrust agency the FTC will result in Intel escaping financial penalties but instead face marketing restrictions.
The agreement which had been in negotiation for months is thought to impact to Intel’s strategy of volume discounts of CPUs and motherboard chipsets according to sources reported by Reuters.
The FTC deal follows a $1.25b settlement with rival chipmaker AMD last November while the European Commission had also fined Intel €1.06b also relating to marketing practised which had unfairly excluded AMD from providing hardware to major Intel customers.
The US regulator’s mandate is not to fine companies for anti-competitive practices in the first instance but first seeks remedy to anticompetitive behaviour, reserving fines for non compliance with settlement terms.
