Intel fined for sabotaging rival AMD

Intel hit a new record but a negative one as it has to pay a record-high fine because it blocked its competitor, AMD, five years ago.

The US chipmaker was fined $1.44 billion by the European Union antitrust regulators in 2009 after it was revealed that it tried to push rival company Advanced Micro Devices out of the market by offering discount prices for computer chips to PC makers Dell, HP, Japan's NEC and Lenovo.

Intel had also paid Media Saturn Holding, a German retail chain, to stock only computers with Intel chips.

The tech company sought to bring AMD to foreclosure through its actions, as the judges at the Luxembourg-based court explained: 'The Commission demonstrated to the requisite legal standard that Intel attempted to conceal the anti-competitive nature of its practices and implemented a long term comprehensive strategy to foreclose AMD from the strategically most important sales channels.'

The fine of $1.44 billion is equal to 4.15 percent of Intel's 2008 revenue.