EC, Japanese Officials Collaborating On Intel Antitrust Case

LONDON — European antitrust enforcers have been working closely with their Japanese counterparts in a wide-ranging antitrust probe that has so far resulted in Intel's agreeing to end anti-competitive practices in Japan.

A spokesman for the European Commission's Competition Directorate, which is probing Intel's business practices on the continent, confirmed that the agency has collaborated with Japanese investigators. Late Thursday, Intel agreed to end its anti-competitive practices in the Japanese PC market.

"We have been colllaborating and working with our counterparts in the [Japan Fair Trade Commission] just because the issues raised are so similar," the spokesman said Friday (April 1).

The European Commission is investigating complaints filed by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. about Intel's trade practices in Europe, which represents an estimated 25 percent of Intel's sales last year. The spokesman said its investigation is ongoing, and provided no timeline for when it would be completed.

— Yoshiko Hara contributed to this report from Tokyo.