The antitrust investigation of Intel is ongoing, European officials say.BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission strongly denied on
Wednesday that it had reached any provisional decision in its antitrust
investigation of the world's biggest chipmaker Intel Corp.
"There is no provisional or internal decision on this case. The
investigation is very much active and ongoing," EU competition
spokesman Jonathan Todd told a regular briefing.
The Financial Times Deutschland, citing Brussels sources, had said
the European Union competition authority planned to take action against
Intel's sales and distribution practices and would publish an official
decision late this summer.
In an unusually sharp rebuttal, Todd said the article was misleading and was an example of "irresponsible journalism".
The newspaper said the EU would stop Intel from marketing its microprocessors to personal computer makers at a discount.
It also said the EU would forbid the chipmaker from subsidizing
retailers' advertising costs, to the extent that it demanded
exclusivity in return.
Intel's legal affairs spokesman Chuck Mulloy told Reuters on
Tuesday: "To the best of our knowledge, no decision has been made. We
continue to work with the Commission to attempt to convince them that
our business practices are well within the law."
(Reporting by David Lawsky; writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Dale Hudson and William Schomberg)
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