Microsoft confirms China probe, reportedly over antitrust, after four offices visited
Regulator sends teams to four of firm's premises amid reports inquiry's focus is antitrust issues
Mainland business authorities are investigating Microsoft, the US technology giant confirmed yesterday, with reports that the focus was on antitrust behaviour.
Investigators of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce yesterday made unannounced visits to Microsoft's offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu , news portal Sina reported citing a source familiar with the matter.
It was unclear why the company was being looked into, it said, though the portal ran another story quoting a source as saying the investigation might have to do with antitrust matters.
The Microsoft investigation comes just days after the mainland's antitrust regulator said that Qualcomm, one of the world's biggest mobile chipmakers, had a monopoly.
Microsoft China spokeswoman Joan Li confirmed in an emailed statement that the company was being investigated and said it would "actively cooperate" with the government. She did not specify what the investigation was about.
The administration could not be reached late yesterday.
