ANALYSIS - U.S. likely to feel pressure to move on Intel

By Diane Bartz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Now that European, South Korean and Japanese authorities have moved against chip giant Intel Corp for breaking antitrust laws, the question is: Are U.S. officials feeling pressure to take action, too?

The European Commission fined Intel 1.06 billion euros ($1.45 billion) on Wednesday for abusing its market dominance.

"The size of the fine shows that there's been substantial harm to consumers," said David Balto, a former antitrust policy director for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. "That's going to compel the FTC to act."

Intel is under investigation by both the FTC, which made its probe formal in June 2008, and the New York attorney general's office.

The EU said Intel had paid computer makers to postpone or cancel plans to launch products that used Advanced Micro Devices chips; provided illegal rebates so computer manufacturers would use mostly or entirely Intel chips; and paid a major retailer to stock only computers with its chips.

The moves against Intel in Japan, South Korea and Europe, combined with President Barack Obama's more aggressive antitrust stance, means that Intel should expect "much more scrutiny," said Ed Black, head of the Computer and Communications Industry Association.

The FTC has largely reserved its power to levy fines to consumer protection cases, but has ordered companies to end anti-competitive practices.

"The U.S. can impose fines. It's not that they can't do it. They have tended not to use fines as a principal tool, call it habit, call it tradition," Black said. "I wouldn't rule it out. I just wouldn't say it's necessarily to be predicted or expected."