The Japanese electronics giant said in a statement issued Oct. 23 that the Justice Department and agencies outside the U.S. are investigating competition in optical disk drives.

According to a Dow Jones report, the subpoena to Sony's subsidiary is part of a larger criminal antitrust investigation into the optical disk drive market. The probe started in recent months and includes investigating disk drive makers for possible price fixing, bid rigging and allocation of markets, according to the report, which cites an unnamed source said to be familiar with the investigation.

Sony (Tokyo) said it intends to cooperate fully with the Justice Department and other agencies.