May 21, 2009 GlobalFoundries: EU decision will help make Malta plant 'a reality' By Stephen Williams (Contact)
MALTA The record $1.45 billion the European Union placed on Intel Corp. for anti-competitive practices against Advanced Micro Devices will give a boost to plans for a computer chip factory here, officials said.
Intel, which currently controls about 80 percent of the world microprocessor market, called the decision "wrong," and vowed to appeal.
Both AMD and GlobalFoundries, the new spinoff manufacturing company that will build the Malta plant, issued statements praising the EU decision, which was released in Brussels early this morning.
Today is an important day for our industry and technology consumers worldwide," GlobalFoundries said in a statement. "The EU ruling not only supports a competitive marketplace but also helps make the construction of our new facility in New York and the creation of new advanced manufacturing jobs in the region a reality.
GlobalFoundries has plans to break ground by July for a $4.2 billion factory at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta and Stillwater. More than 1,400 jobs will be created when the plant goes into operation in 2012.
There has been speculation over whether the plans would proceed because AMD has sustained billions of dollars in losses since plans for the plant were first announced in 2006.
The European Union action is only the latest against Intel, accusing it of monopolistic practices against its smaller rival in the market for microprocessors, which are the "brains" of computers.
Regulators in Korea and Japan have found against Intel in recent years, and federal regulators in this country and the New York State attorney general's office continue anti-trust investigations.
However, Intel says the free market has worked well, with innovations in microchips taking place as the two companies competed in the last decade.
"Intel's position is that processors are a highly, highly, highly competitive market and the market has worked well," said John D'Allesandro, a regional spokesman for Intel.
