07/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 7 January 2008, the European Commission confirmed that it had carried out surprise inspections of the premises of several companies producing electronic chips for cards. The manufacturers NXP (Netherlands), Infineon (Germany) and STMicroelectronics (France/Italy) were all suspected of illegal market and price sharing and each received a visit from the inspectors on 21 October 2008. The Japanese Renesas Technology company, jointly owned by Hitachi Ltd and Mitsubishi Electric, were also subject to surprise visits. Electronic chips can be found in credit cards; SIM cards to mobiles and some ID documents. Infineon and STM have already been on the receiving end of the competition authorities. No official declaration has been made by Brussels yet following the visits. (C.D./transl.rh)