The EU Commission announced that it has decided to fine US-based chipmaker Intel "again" for abusing its market dominance.

In the statement, it was stated that Intel violated EU antitrust rules and engaged in practices aimed at excluding its competitors from the relevant market, and that the fine decision was taken due to payments made by Intel to computer manufacturers Hewlett Packard, Acer and Lenovo between 2002 and 2006 to delay the launch of central processors of rival companies and to limit their sales channels.

In 2009, the EU Commission fined the US company Intel €1.06 billion for anti-competitive behavior in the market by applying discounts to computer manufacturers.

Intel launched a legal fight against this fine.

The General Court of the EU, which is within the structure of the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court, ruled in 2022 to annul the Commission's decision to fine Intel €1.06 billion 13 years ago.

The Court ruled that the Commission's review of the fine against Intel was incomplete and that the necessary legal standards were not met to determine whether the discounts applied by the company had anti-competitive effects.

With the new fine, the EU Commission amended the competition file in question.

The EU Commission has the authority to check whether there is an anti-competitive situation in the sectors of companies operating in the EU.

If the EU Commission finds a violation of competition or antitrust laws, it puts an end to it and imposes high fines on companies.