The European Commission has just announced a fine of 242 million euros against Qualcomm for abusing its dominant position by selling its 3G chips below their cost price with the aim of driving its competitor Icera out of the market.
This practice, which the European body described as predatory, continued between 2009 and 2011, after which the British software manufacturer finally managed to eliminate its rival by being acquired by the company Nvidia.
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has recalled the illegality of azerbaijan phone number these actions and pointed out that “Qualcomm's strategic behaviour has impeded competition and innovation in this market, limiting the supply available to consumers in a sector with huge demand and enormous potential for innovative technologies.”
A will appeal the decision because it is not “supported by the law, economic principles or market facts.”
The fine, which represents 1.27% of the company's turnover in 2018, is not the first for Qualcomm, which was already fined 997 million euros by the European Executive last year for paying Apple to use only its chips, leaving rivals such as Intel out of the game.
Outside Europe, the manufacturer was also fined in South Korea in 2016 for similar reasons. Qualcomm was ordered to pay $854 million, the highest amount ever imposed in the country in this area, for abusing its favoured position in the market by forcing phone manufacturers to pay royalties on an unnecessarily broad set of patents.