The European Commission is to rule on Wednesday on whether US computer chip giant Intel has abused its market power to crush rivals unfairly, a source close to the matter said.
A commission spokesman declined to comment today. If found guilty of trying to thwart competitors illegally, the California-based company could face fines running of 10% of its annual worldwide revenue, which stood at $37.6 billion in 2008.
The Financial Times newspaper reported today that the fine could top the record penalties that Brussels has slapped on Microsoft in its long-running antitrust battle with the US software giant.
The commission originally fined Microsoft €497m for abusing its dominating grip on the market for personal computer operating systems.
However, five years of legal battles and an unsuccessful appeal later, the fines have reached €1.676 billion, although Microsoft has appealed against part of the sum.
The European Commission filed competition charges against Intel in July 2007 accusing the company of offering 'substantial' rebates to computer makers that mostly used its chips.
In July 2008, it lodged a fresh complaint, charging Intel of offering discounts to a major European personal computer distributor to favour its products, paid a PC maker to delay marketing a model line with a rival's chips, and also paid it to use Intel's own microprocessors in preference.
Intel's chief competitor Advanced Micro Devices has long accused Intel of using its grip on the market for microchips - the brains of personal computers - to choke off competition.
