The cause of plodding European bureaucrats has been joined by the fiery New York attorney-general Andrew Cuomo. On Wednesday he filed an antitrust lawsuit, which Intel will defend, alleging a systematic campaign of illegal conduct designed to protect the chipmaker’s dominance of the PC microprocessor market. Following a €1.1bn ($1.6bn) fine in May from the European Commission (which Intel is appealing against), and previous rulings in Japan and Korea, the company faces fresh scrutiny of its market power.

Share prices for Intel and competitor Advanced Micro Devices barely reacted. The problem for AMD, which is set to face Intel in a Delaware courtroom in March, is that legal victories offer only consolation, and perhaps the chance of a pay-out to help pay down debt. The period when the company had a clear technological advantage and opportunity to make a dent in Intel’s market share of about 70 per cent has passed.