Dell Sued For Intel Payout

Dell has been served with a lawsuit from investors over potentially illegal Intel payouts, according to news today from Reuters. The suit -- filed jointly by Austin-based LongView Funds and the UK's West Midlands Pension Fund -- claims that the system builder secretly received "kickbacks" from its CPU supplier, accumulating roughly $1 billion over the space of four quarters in exchange for purchasing only Intel processors for its PCs. Attorneys said Dell was involved in a "widespread, long-running scheme" to fool investors by artificially inflating its income and its stock price. The computer firm declined comment, adding that it hadn't yet seen the allegations made in the suit. Intel had not responded as of Friday afternoon.

Intel has often considered Dell one of its closest allies, the latter having used only Core, Pentium, and Xeon CPUs in its systems until September's introduction of AMD-based Dimensions. The semiconductor firm has also regularly provides official incentives to companies that include the Intel logo on their computers and in advertising.

By Electronista Staff