EU raids Intel offices in Europe

Santa Clara (CA) - Europe has stepped up its investigation process against Intel : The EU commission confirmed today that it has searched two offices of Intel in Europe as well as offices of system builders and resellers. While not connected to the antitrust complaint in the US, troubles for Intel begin to pile up : AMD in fact may have enough against Intel to take the company to trial in the US, Toms Hardware Guide has learned.

Today’s news from Europe is yet another episode in a line of events that question Intel’s global business practices. Besides antitrust accusations the company settled about five years ago, Intel hit negative headlines in Japan earlier this year and most recently was target of an antitrust complaint filed by AMD.

Japan and Europe are different matters, but show that antitrust question may become a global problem for Intel. The European Commission today confirmed that it has searched the firm’s offices in Swindon, UK, and Munich, Germany, as part of its ongoing investigation against Intel. Additionally, several offices of unconfirmed system manufacturers and resellers have been raided as well. As of Tuesday, there was no information, if EU’s agents in fact secured documents.

Intel replied to the raids in a common professional manner. The company will cooperate with the commission, we were told. A spokesperson said that he was convinced that the company is competing in a fair way in the market place.

In the meantime, there is a deadline approaching for Intel in the US : The company will have to reply to AMD’s antitrust complaint until July 18. AMD already has initiated a process that will enable the company to look for hard evidence of its claims in business documents of up to 30 companies. Conversations Tom’s Hardware Guide had with several large companies, AMD may have a good shot at rallying support for its case against Intel. While many answers are still unanswered, it appears at this time that AMD could be able to build a case. "Intel threatened our suppliers that they would cancel rebates if AMD products were offered," an IT manager of a Fortune 500 financial corporation told Tom’s Hardware Guide. "I believe AMD has a valid complaint in their lawsuit for what my vendors have described as ’dirty tactics’."

Still, it is unclear if AMD’s claims are strong enough to hold up in court. Analysts such as Carmi Levy from Info-Tech Research, for example, believes that the current antitrust claims have nothing to do with unfair business practices but rather with the fact that Intel is just in a different league when marketing and selling its products. "When Intel gets its act together, everyone else scatters," he said.

Related stories :
Analysis : AMD vs. Intel - a Landmark Case or Just a Brilliant PR Stunt ?
AMD vs. Intel : ’It’s not a slam dunk case’