The European Commission has announced that it’s re-imposed a fine of around €376 million (£327m) on technology giant Intel, citing previous abuse of its market dominance in the computer chip industry.

In 2009, the Commission imposed a €1 billion (£896m) fine on the chip maker for “abusing its dominant position in the market for x86 CPUs,” specifically on the charges that it had engaged with practices known as “conditional rebates” and “naked restrictions.”

The Commission said that the decision was based on findings that Intel had given wholly or partially hidden rebates to computer manufacturers on the condition that they bought all, or almost all, of their x86 CPUs (conditional rebates). Further, that it paid computer manufacturers to halt or delay the launch of specific products containing competitors’ x86 CPUs and to limit the sales channels available to these products (naked restrictions).

However, in 2022, the EU’s General Court partially annulled the 2009 Commission’s decision, stating that the “Commission’s analysis is incomplete and does not make it possible to establish to the requisite legal standard that the rebates at issue were capable of having, or likely to have, anticompetitive effects.” This then led to the rejection of the fine imposed on Intel in its entirety.

The Commission is now taking the decision to impose a fine on Intel only concerning the naked restrictions. It stated that “these restrictions took place between November 2002 and December 2006 and consisted in payments made by Intel to three computer manufacturers (i.e., HP, Acer and Lenovo) to halt or delay the launch of specific products containing competitors’ x86 CPUs and to limit the sales channels available to these products.”

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Commenting on the new decision, commissioner Didier Reynders, who’s in charge of competition policy, said: “We are re-imposing a €376.36 million fine on Intel for having abused its dominant position in the computer chips market.

“Intel paid its customers to limit, delay or cancel the sale of products containing computer chips of its main rival. This is illegal under our competition rules. Our decision shows the Commission’s commitment to ensure that very serious antitrust breaches do not go unsanctioned.”