In a prepared statement, the European Commission said its officials had carried out “unannounced inspections at the premises of a manufacturer of central processing units (CPUs) and a number of personal computer retailers.
Intel has since confirmed that it is the manufacturer whose offices were raided. The German consumer electronics retailer Media Markt and Britains DSG are also understood to have been raided as part of the investigation.
“The Commission has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated EC Treaty rules on restrictive business practices (Article 81) and/or abuse of a dominant market position,” the Commission said in a statement.
The investigation and the premises’ raids are thought to be the first stage of a response to complaints to the EC about Intel market behaviour from rival Advanced Micro Devices.
Intel is already the subject of formal EU charges of monopoly abuse of market power, for allegedly customer rebates at below cost and for allegedly bullying customers into staying away from AMD.
Intel has said it would cooperate with the regulatory authorities.
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