Intel Corp., the world's biggest chipmaker, reported its first loss in 22 years on Tuesday as it recorded a $1.45 billion charge related to a European Union antitrust fine.

The net loss was $398 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with a profit of $1.6 billion, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue dropped to $8.02 billion, down from $9.5 billion for the same quarter last year.

Chief Executive Paul Otellini said the results reflect improving conditions in the PC market segment with our strongest first- to second-quarter growth since 1988 and a clear expectation for a seasonally stronger second half.

In May, the European Union fined Intel $1.44 billion, saying the company used illegal rebates to thwart competitors, in particular, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Intel has vowed to appeal.

In addition to the antitrust charge, the latest results included $91 million in restructuring charges and a $38 million loss on equity investments. Excluding items, earnings fell to 18 cents a share from 28 cents.

Intel kicked off two weeks of earnings reports in the tech sector like IBM, Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

The use of Intel's chips in everything from laptops to supercomputers makes its earnings an indicator of industry demand.

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