Qualcomm's EU Fine Reduced Slightly But Court Upholds Antitrust Violations

Qualcomm Incorporated QCOM shares are trading marginally higher on Wednesday in the premarket session.

Qualcomm’s EU antitrust fine was largely upheld by Europe’s second-highest Court, with a slight reduction from 242 million euros to 238.7 million euros ($265.58 million), the Luxembourg-based General Court said.

Qualcomm, a U.S. company known for its cellular and wireless technologies, was found to have abused its dominant market position from 2009 to 2011.

This conclusion followed a complaint from British firm Icera against Qualcomm, which alleged the tech behemoth of practicing ‘predatory pricing’ to eliminate competition.

The Commission concluded that Qualcomm had abused its dominant position by supplying certain quantities of its UMTS chipsets to two of its key customers, Huawei and ZTE, at below-cost prices during the relevant period, with the intention of eliminating Icera, its main competitor at the time.

Also Read: Qualcomm Analyst Sees Opportunity In ‘Regaining Share With Samsung’ After Apple Revenue Squeeze

The U.S. company NVIDIA Corporation NVDA acquired Icera in May 2011.

Despite Qualcomm’s attempts to contest the fine, citing procedural irregularities and errors in the Commission’s assessment, the Court rejected most of its claims.

In terms of calculating the fine amount, the Court concluded that the Commission had unjustifiably deviated from the methodology established in its 2006 guidelines in the contested decision.

Consequently, exercising its unlimited jurisdiction, the Court has determined the fine imposed on Qualcomm to be 238.73 million euros, not 242.042 million euros.

Price Action: QCOM shares are trading higher by 0.21% to $169.05 premarket at last check Wednesday.

Photo: Shutterstock

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