Intel’s Anti Competitive Consequences

In an unsurprising move,  the FTC has sued Intel for anti-competitive practices this morning.  It has been a bittersweet year for Intel, but their December has turned into a month many INTC investors would rather forget.

The year’s highlights include having the fastest CPUs on the market with the Nehalem based i5/i7 processors, Core 2 series still running strong in both desktops and notebooks, and Atom helping to cement their product line in thin and lights.

But there were just as many negatives this year for Intel.  The EU fined them a whopping $1.45 billion for anti-competitive practices this Spring, and while Intel is appealing this fine, they still had to fork over the scratch to cover the fine. Adding insult to injury, NVIDIA has also leveled charges against Intel for unfair business practices.

Intel has previously faced similar suits in Korea and Japan, and have paid fines in those cases.  The FTC is shaping up to be the mother of all the suits.  In addition, because Intel originated and is headquartered in the US, this suit could have a significant monetary and regulatory impact on Intel’s operations.  Intel also still faces charges from New York’s Attorney General about its anti-competitive practices. Courtesy of pcper.com