Intel Corp, the world's biggest chipmaker, said it is under investigation by Japan's Fair Trade Commission, six weeks after the regulator raided Microsoft Corp offices seeking evidence of anti-competitive activities.
"We are cooperating fully with their investigation," said Tom Beerman, a spokesman for Santa Clara, California-based Intel.
He declined to comment on the reason for the probe. Officials visited Intel's Tokyo headquarters to investigate whether its microprocessor sales practices breached competition rules, said an official, who declined to be identified.
Microsoft's software and Intel's processor chips are used in more than 80 percent of personal computers sold globally. Intel is expanding sales of chips for the consumer electronics and communications markets, increasing its rivalry with Japanese companies such as Sony Corp and Renesas Technology Corp.
"Intel has never forced us to use only their chips," said Midori Suzuki, a spokeswoman for Toshiba Corp, Japan's biggest maker of notebook computers. "We have good relations with Intel."
In February, the Japanese trade commission was investigating a provision in Microsoft's licensing terms which stipulates that computer and device makers that license Microsoft's Windows XP and CE programs and related patents won't later sue Microsoft or each other claiming that Windows violates their patents, Microsoft said in a statement.
Intel faces government challenges elsewhere in Asia.
Intel chief executive officer Craig Barrett travels to China this week, where he may discuss the government's decision to force makers of wireless networking chips to include a domestic security standard. The demand affects Intel's Centrino wireless networking technology.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
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