India’s antitrust body CCI denied Apple’s request to halt an inquiry report that revealed the corporation had violated competition regulations, enabling the case to proceed, according to an internal ruling.
TakeAway Points:
- India’s antitrust body has turned down a request from Apple to put a hold on an investigation report that found the company breached competition laws, allowing the case to continue.
- A CCI investigation had found that Apple exploited its dominant position in the market for app stores on its iOS operating system to the detriment of app developers, users, and other payment processors.
- Intel Corp.’s initial $8.5 billion federal chips grant will be reduced to less than $8 billion by the U.S. government.
India regulator to proceed with antitrust probe
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in August ordered a recall of investigation reports after Apple said the watchdog had disclosed commercial secrets to competitors in the case dating back to 2021, including Tinder-owner Match. These elements should have been redacted.
The CCI had asked parties to return the reports and destroy any copies. The regulator then issued new reports.
The CCI internal order showed that Apple in November alleged that the main complainant in the antitrust investigation – Indian non-profit Together We Fight Society (TWFS) – had not complied with the directives to give an assurance that the old investigation reports had been destroyed.
Apple asked the CCI “to take action against TWFS for non-compliance with its order” and “to withhold the revised” report, the CCI order dated Nov. 13, according to Reuters.
“Apple’s request to hold the investigation report in abeyance was deemed untenable,” the CCI said in the order.
A CCI investigation had found that Apple exploited its dominant position in the market for app stores on its iOS operating system to the detriment of app developers, users, and other payment processors.
Apple has denied wrongdoing and said it is a small player in India, where phones that use Google’s Android system are dominant.
The CCI internal order also showed that Apple has been asked to submit its audited financial statements for fiscal years 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 under regulatory guidelines aimed at determining possible monetary penalties in the case.
The CCI’s senior officials will review the investigation report and make a final ruling on the case.
US plans to reduce Intel’s $8.5 billion federal chips grant below $8 billion
The U.S. government plans to reduce Intel Corp’s preliminary $8.5 billion federal chip grant to less than $8 billion, the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources.
The change took into account a $3 billion contract Intel had been offered to make chips for the Pentagon, the people told the Times.
This spring U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration said it was awarding Intel nearly $20 billion in grants and loans, supercharging the company’s domestic semiconductor chip output and marking the government’s largest outlay to subsidize leading-edge chip production.
The U.S. announced a preliminary agreement for $8.5 billion in grants and up to $11 billion in loans for Intel in Arizona, with some of the funding to be used to build two new factories and modernize an existing one.
The outlay was part of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, a bid to boost domestic semiconductor output with $52.7 billion in funding, including $39 billion in subsidies for semiconductor production and $11 billion for research and development.
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