EU Probes 4 Nations Over Intel Processors

The European Union’s head office Wednesday expanded its probe into whether EU governments are illegally requiring that the computers they buy must contain microprocessors made by Intel Corp.

The European Commission sent formal notices to France, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden seeking information on public tenders for computers that either require they contain Intel chips or specify a chip speed only the U.S. giant can provide.

The commission said it believed such requirements violate European law on public procurement.

“You can specify the performance you are looking for in a particular computer problem, but not a specification that can only be met by one manufacturer,” said commission spokesman Jonathan Todd.

The investigation was sparked by Intel’s chief U.S. rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which said it complained to the EU about procurement tenders in several member states.

Jens Drews, AMD’s spokesman in Europe, welcomed the expansion of the probe.

Intel said it was not involved in the probe.

The four countries cited have two months to respond.