Qualcomm US stocks fell 13% just after the US judges ruled that Qualcomm illegally suppressed the competition in the mobile phone chip market, and used its dominant position to charge excessive licensing fees.
The California court ruled in favour of the US Federal Trade Commission in the antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm which was initiated in 2017. The judgment found that Qualcomm had bundled sales and restricted competition. The court said that chip maker must not increase the patent license fee by limiting the supply of chips, require exclusive supply, or allow other chip manufacturers to obtain permission. It must provide detailed standard and necessary patent licenses under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions. Qualcomm will report annually to the Federal Trade Commission on compliance with the above court ruling.
Gizchina News of the week
Lucy Koh, a judge in the San Jose area of the United States, said that the chip maker violated the anti-monopoly law and used its patents to charge high unreasonable royalties, suppressing the development of competitors, and charging royalties in the percentage of smartphone prices. The court held that Qualcomm’s approach stifled competition in the chip market and harmed the interests of competitors, equipment manufacturers, and the final consumers.
Lucy Koh, a judge in the San Jose area of the United States, said that the chip maker violated the anti-monopoly law and used its patents to charge high unreasonable royalties, suppressing the development of competitors, and charging royalties in the percentage of smartphone prices. The court held that Qualcomm’s approach stifled competition in the chip market and harmed the interests of competitors, equipment manufacturers, and the final consumers.
Recent reports claim that Qualcomm as well as Intel, and Broadcom are cutting off their dealings with Huawei, effective immediately. These are no doubt the World top leading chipset makers, and a no deal with Huawei will obviously tell a great deal on the Chinese company. Elsewhere, reports from Berlin say the German chipmaker Infineon Technologies has also put shipments to Huawei on hold until the situation calms down, as have US memory chip makers Micron Technology and Western Digital.