S. Korean Regulators Raid Intel

Intel Corp. said Thursday that South Korean trade regulators raided its office in Seoul this week as part of a previously announced investigation.

“We acknowledge that representatives from the Korean FTC [Free Trade Commission] did pay an unscheduled visit to our office in Seoul earlier this week during normal business hours,” Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said.

South Korea began investigating Intel’s marketing and rebate practices in August after similar probes by Japan and the European Union.

“While it’s not appropriate for us to discuss specifically what the Korean FTC is looking at, suffice it to say that we have been and will continue to cooperate,” Mulloy said.

Smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. sued Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel in the United States in June, accusing it of anti-competitive practices such as offering discounts to computer makers that agreed to curtail use of AMD chips.

The European Union has been investigating Intel’s business practices since 2001 and raided Intel offices in several countries in July.

In March, Japanese antitrust authorities ordered Intel to eliminate discounts to PC makers, saying the company illegally locked rivals out of the market. Intel said it would comply with the order, although it voiced disagreement with the findings.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD also has filed suit against Intel in Japan, seeking $55 million in damages for alleged violations of antitrust law.

“Authorities worldwide are intensifying their investigative efforts into Intel’s anti-competitive business practices because they have good reason to believe evidence of illegal monopoly abuse is there to be found,” said Thomas McCoy, AMD’s vice president for legal affairs.