IBM to Extend Antitrust Accord With EC Commission Beyond '90

• Published in: The Wall Street journal. Eastern edition
• Main Author: By Richard L. Hudson and Julie Wolf
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, N.Y Dow Jones & Company Inc 15.12.1988
• Edition: Eastern edition
• Subjects: Antitrust; Competition; Computer industry; Investigations; Settlements & damages
• ISSN: 0099-9660

EC commissioners met last night in Strasbourg, France, to consider approving the IBM agreement, negotiated earlier by EC staff members. EC sources expected the pact to clear the panel and, barring any last-minute hitches, to be announced soon -- perhaps as early as today. IBM's decision to accept an extension appears to reflect growing activism by EC antitrust officials -- as well as an IBM decision that it probably doesn't have much to lose by going along. While the settlement has allowed EC officials to keep closer tabs on IBM's operations, it hasn't cut into IBM's market dominance in Europe or hampered its ability to compete. The Armonk, N.Y., computer giant remains the biggest computer vendor in Europe, supplying about one-third of all computer hardware, software and services in Western Europe. The IBM settlement is fraught with political overtones in Europe, where the U.S. company's dominance perplexes competitors and angers politicians seeking a strong, European-owned computer industry. The August 1984 settlement followed nearly eight years of EC investigation into IBM's trading practices. A chief complaint from IBM rivals -- in Europe as in the U.S. -- was that IBM was withholding technical information that the competitors needed to connect their products with IBM machines. Most major European corporations have at least some IBM gear in their computer systems; that fact often forces IBM rivals seeking sales to demonstrate that their products can co-exist with IBM equipment.