Intel president derides EC's antitrust evidence

Otellini has accused the EC of ignoring important information

Intel president Paul Otellini has rubbished the evidence presented by the European Commission (EC) about alleged anti-competitive practices by his company.

This week, the EC released documents that it says shows computer manufacturers held off from using AMD processors under pressure or following incentives from Intel. But Otellini denied categorically that this was the case.

“No, that's not the case,” he said when questioned on the issue.

“We don't do exclusive deals and when our time comes we will show that. The EC can release evidence early, something we cannot do.”

The EC says that it has letters from companies such as Dell, HP and Lenovo that show the companies were either induced to use Intel technology by volume discounts or held off on switching to AMD technology for fear of reprisals.

Dell said that it feared any retaliation from Intel if it switched to AMD chips “could be severe and prolonged with impact to all LOBs [Lines of Business]”.

“There is nothing new in yesterday's revelations,” Otellini said.

"The EC has consistently ignored information and we have customers who are willing to state that that was wrong.”

However, AMD said that the evidence was damning and proved its case that Intel was putting pressure on OEMs to only use Intel hardware.

"The EU evidence was a validation of what we've been saying for years," said Patrick Moorhead, vice president of advanced marketing at AMD.

"Intel uses monopolistic power to coerce customers in the channel. Intel's now zero for three; it hasn't won a single antitrust case worldwide."