EU fines Intel a record $1.45 billion
European regulators say the chipmaker offered illegal rebates to producers and retailers to squeeze out rivals.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- The European Commission imposed a record $1.45 billion fine on chipmaker Intel Corp. on Wednesday and ordered it halt illegal rebates and other practices to squeeze out rival AMD.
"Intel has harmed millions of European consumers by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years," European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.
The EU executive said U.S.-based Intel paid computer makers to postpone or cancel plans to launch products that used AMD (AMD, Fortune 500) 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 to "cease the illegal practices immediately to the extent that they are still ongoing."
Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) may continue to offer rebates, so long as they are legal, the Commission said.
The EU antitrust fine is the biggest imposed on an individual company, exceeding an 896-million euro penalty last year against glass maker Saint-Gobain for price fixing, and a 497-million euro fine in 2004 on Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) for abuse of dominance. 
