One SO concerns the supply of Qualcomm’s chipsets to a single customer under an existing agreement. The low prices at which the popular chips were sold had placed tremendous pressure on other manufacturers, forcing them to exit the European market, the competitors alleged.
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The EU said five months ago it had opened two formal investigations into Qualcomm over possible predatory pricing tactics and exclusivity clauses in contracts with clients. Icera has since been acquired by Nvidia Inc.
“I am concerned that Qualcomm’s actions may have pushed out competitors or prevented them from competing”, Margrethe Vestager, head EC antitrust regulator, noted in a statement on Tuesday.
The Commission today noted that Qualcomm now has the opportunity to respond to the Commission’s allegations outlined in the Statements of Objections within 3 months as regards the exclusivity payment objections and 4 months as regards the predatory pricing objections, and to ask for an oral hearing in each case.
Rosenberg continued: “We look forward to demonstrating that competition in the sale of wireless chips has been and remains strong and dynamic, and that Qualcomm’s sales practices have always complied with European competition law”. The EU’s European Commission (EC) on December 8 accused Qualcomm of paying money to an unnamed top-tier smartphone and tablet maker to ensure that the customer use only Qualcomm’s baseband chipsets in its mobile devices, a move that essentially hinders competitors’ ability to negotiate with the OEM. The Commission said it suspected Qualcomm stifled innovation. At the same time, Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission is investigating to see if Qualcomm’s licensing policies violate the country’s fair trade laws All this comes after Qualcomm in February agreed to pay a $975 million fine and change its business practices in China to settle a lengthy antitrust investigation there.
Under EU antitrust rules, dominant companies have a responsibility not to abuse their powerful market position by restricting competition.
The matters were previously disclosed by the Company.
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In 2009, the European Union authority scrapped a two-year antitrust probe into whether Qualcomm charged unreasonably high royalties for integral technology of global 3G phone standards after rivals withdrew their complaints.
