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TOKYO/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Japan's Fair Trade Commission raided three offices of Intel Corp. on Thursday as part of a probe into possible antitrust violations, a Japanese official said.

Intel (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , which supplies microprocessors to four of every five personal computers, faces a similar probe in Europe that stems from complaints by its archrival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

"They have worked to prevent other processor makers from supplying personal computer manufacturers," the Japanese official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said the company is fully cooperating with the Japanese regulators, but declined further comment.

Intel shares were off about 1 percent in late trading on the Nasdaq, while technology stocks were broadly higher on positive news from Dell Inc. (DELL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research)

The raids stirs up decade-old allegations from competitors that Intel's business practices are unfairly aggressive.

Japanese authorities told AMD they were investigating whether Intel undercut competitors with large discounts, and threatened to halt shipments of its chips to PC makers who did business with Intel rivals, said AMD spokesman David Kroll. AMD was also contacted by trade authorities in Japan on Thursday, he said.

Kroll declined to comment on whether AMD had filed a formal complaint with the Japanese about Intel, but said his company has had ongoing discussions with Japan's regulators. The company also has ongoing discussions with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission about Intel, he said.

Japan, the world's third-largest market for PCs, accounted for 9 percent, or $2.7 billion, of Intel's $30.1 billion in total revenue last year. Its revenues in Japan rose 42 percent last year from 2002.

The probe comes about six weeks after Japanese officials said they were investigating Microsoft's Japanese unit for possible antitrust violations.

A HISTORY OF INVESTIGATIONS    Continued ...

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