EU court upholds Qualcomm’s antitrust fine with minor reduction

In a major ruling, the EU’s second-top court has upheld Qualcomm’s antitrust fine. The court has largely confirmed Qualcomm’s antitrust fine, but with a minor reduction. The EU hit the chip maker with a fine of €242 million way back in 2019 for “predatory pricing”. After Qualcomm filed an appeal, the Luxembourg-based general court rejected the tech giant’s plea.

Qualcomm’s antitrust fine is largely confirmed, with a minor reduction in fines

In the significant ruling, the general court of the EU has confirmed Qualcomm’s antitrust fine for the 2019 case. The court upheld the previous decision by conducting a thorough examination of Qualcomm’s arguments. The judges found that Qualcomm’s appeal is without merit. Notably, the court determined that Qualcomm’s predatory pricing tactics had a significant impact on the market. It hindered the competition by excluding rivals.

Qualcomm has received a minor relief in the antitrust fine case. The company will now have to pay €238.7 million, down from €242 million Euros. The court made an “exception of a plea concerning the calculation of the amount of the fine, which it finds to be well founded in part”. However, all the other aspects of the plea have been rejected in their entirety.

What was the antitrust case?

The EU fined Qualcomm in 2019 for selling its chipsets below cost between 2009 and 2011. The case said it was a predatory pricing strategy to thwart British phone software maker Icera. Qualcomm had argued that the chipsets singled out in the case accounted for just 0.7% of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) market. So the fine was not justified as the brand couldn’t possibly exclude rivals from the market.

While the EU has confirmed Qualcomm’s antitrust fine, it can appeal to the EU Court of Justice, Europe’s highest court. However, the brand’s chances of success on a new appeal appear slim, given strong evidence against its actions. The chipset giant didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from Reuters.