Intel Settles Antitrust Case With New York AG on the Cheap (INTC, AMD)

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) has announced a settlement with the New York Attorney General that will terminate the lawsuit alleging violation of U.S. and state antitrust laws filed in late-2009 by the New York Attorney General.  This comes on the heels of a late-2011 court ruling which “greatly reduced the scope of the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit.”

Intel did not have to admit any violation of law nor did it have to admit or deny that the allegations in the complaint are true.  Most importantly, the settlement does not require any changes to how the company does business. The settlement includes a $6.5 million payment that is “intended only to cover some of the costs incurred by the New York Attorney General in the litigation.”

This will keep the chipset and processor giant from having to change its practices with PC makers.  The original suit by the NYAG alleged that Intel obtained exclusive or near-exclusive agreements from large computer makers in exchange for payments totaling billions of dollars and also that Intel threatened retaliation against any company that did not go along with Intel.

The ultimate loser here is Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD).  It has had an incredibly difficult time gaining much market share out of Intel’s 80%-plus market share in the processor market.

The Full Settlement is here.