Confirming another inquiry into its business practices, Intel Corp. said antitrust regulators in South Korea have requested documents related to its marketing and rebate programs.
In a regulatory filing, the world’s largest chip maker said the Korea Fair Trade Commission made the request in June from Intel’s local subsidiary. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said it’s in the process of complying.
“It’s not an investigation but an inquiry at this stage,” Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said Tuesday.
Intel, whose microprocessors command a 90 percent share of their market in terms of revenue, is facing numerous legal battles for how it maintains its position. Intel has repeatedly denied it has broken any laws.
In June, before the South Korea inquiry, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. sued Intel for allegedly abusing its monopoly to pressure computer makers from buying AMD chips. The action has spawned at least 61 lawsuits that repeat AMD’s claims.
The AMD lawsuit, which is expected to take years to litigate, seeks billions of dollars and a halt to business practices that include dangling marketing money as an incentive for PC makers to buy more from Intel and less from AMD.
Intel also is being investigated by European Union antitrust regulators in a probe that’s lasted more than four years but culminated last month in a series of raids at the chip maker’s European offices.
Earlier this year, Japan’s Fair Trade Commission said Intel violated fair trade laws — a ruling Intel accepted in April without admitting wrongdoing.