AMD to File Intel Anticompetitive Complaint in Germany

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) plans to file a complaint with the German competition authority regarding alleged Intel anticompetitive behavior, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The complaint relates to anticompetitive behavior reported in the German press last week, said AMD spokeswoman Hollis Krym. On July 3, a report in the Financial Times Deutschland alleged that Intel pays German retail chain Media Markt not to stock PCs containing AMD processors, citing a letter to a supplier in which the retailer said it would only buy PCs with Intel processors.

Krym would not discuss the content of AMD’s complaint, but said AMD has evidence similar to the letter cited in the news report last week.

Germany’s competition authority received a complaint last Thursday regarding the alleged anticompetitive behavior, it said earlier this week. At the time, AMD said it couldn’t confirm that it had filed a complaint, although on Tuesday Jens Drews, director of government relations for AMD Europe, said AMD had already made some submissions regarding the situation to the competition authority. The agency doesn’t have a formal complaint process, and a simple letter suffices as a complaint, said Irene Sewczyk, a spokeswoman for the competition authority.

AMD filed a lawsuit in the United States last year charging Intel with anticompetitive behavior. In the suit, AMD named several retailers around the world, including Media Markt, that it says agree to exclusively sell Intel-based products or agree to keep sales of AMD-based products at a small percentage of their total sales in return for payment from Intel. Some of the retailers named include Dixons, PC World and Time in the United Kingdom, and Conforama and Boulanger in France.

Krym isn’t aware of any other AMD filings with competition authorities in other countries regarding those companies, she said.

Media Markt earlier this week declined to answer questions regarding the situation, saying it doesn’t comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

Intel isn’t aware of any filings at the German competition authority, and believes its business practices are lawful, it said on Tuesday.

-Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service (Dublin Bureau)

Related Link:

• Intel May Face New Investigation in Germany

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