Intel: Too Soon to Say Whether FTC Dropped Antitrust Investigation

By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews

October 22, 2007, 1:17 PM

In response to a New York Times story this morning that cites unnamed officials at the Federal Trade Commission as having indicated its chairman has decided not to pursue a formal investigation of Intel's antitrust conduct with regard to AMD, Intel spokesperson Chuck Mulloy called the report "speculation."

"We regularly talk to the USFTC and share documents with the USFTC," Mulloy told BetaNews, "and have done so for years." Refusing to classify this sharing of documents as part of any FTC investigation, formal or informal, he added that the subject matter of documents being transferred between his company and the FTC include documents relevant to foreign antitrust investigations - such as the ongoing case in Korea - and the domestic antitrust case filed against it by AMD in Delaware court.

Intel does not know how the FTC intends to use those documents and does not care, for now, as Mulloy said his company will not comment on the internal workings of the Commission or how decisions are made there. He did add, though, that his company's position with regards to the AMD case is the same as before: "The market rewards companies that deliver a product the market wants," he told BetaNews.

UPDATE - For the FTC's part, its official spokesperson declined comment to BetaNews this afternoon.

Over the weekend, it was learned the FTC did indeed come to the conclusion that a joint memory venture between Intel and STMicroelectronics was clear to proceed. The Commission had asked for more details about the venture back in August. Today, Mulloy told BetaNews the conditions for closing the deal have yet to be reached, but with the FTC's blessing, the two sides hope to conclude the deal by the end of this year.