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Qualcomm is under investigation by the European Union's antitrust authority, which suspects the company of abusing its dominant position in the market for 3G and 4G chipsets used in smartphones and tablets.
The European Commission has initiated proceedings against Qualcomm in two investigations, it said Thursday. The first concerns whether Qualcomm breached EU antitrust rules by offering financial incentives to phone manufacturers on condition that they buy chipsets exclusively, or mostly, from the company; the second, whether Qualcomm engaged in predatory pricing, selling below cost to force competitors out of the market.
Mobile processors and baseband chipsets, which handle the communications protocols used in wireless networks, form a significant proportion of the cost of a mobile phone and, at least at the low end of the market, margins are getting thinner, leaving phonemakers more vulnerable to pricing pressures from their suppliers.
The EU Commissioner in charge of competition policy, Margrethe Vestager, said "We are launching these investigations because we want to be sure that high tech suppliers can compete on the merits of their products. Many customers use electronic devices such as a mobile phone or a tablet and we want to ensure that they ultimately get value for money. Effective competition is the best way to stimulate innovation."
Qualcomm's business practices have come under antitrust authorities' scrutiny before. Earlier this year, Chinese regulators fined Qualcomm $975 million for overcharging device makers there.
[...]
Qualcomm said it had been notified that the Commission had initiated proceedings against it in the two ongoing investigations. It will continue to cooperate with the Commission, but believes the concerns are without merit, it said.
More coverage of this story can be found at The Register and ITWorld.
Original Submission
(Score: 3, Interesting) by janrinok on Thursday July 16 2015, @05:05PM
I think that maybe you are missing the point. America is currently promoting a trade agreement to ensure fair trade between Europe and America - in both directions - not just one. If you think the EU is picking on US companies now, wait until the TTIP is forced upon us. The agreement means that we can take more US companies to court in Europe and the results will be binding both in Europe and inside the US.
You should do a little more research - the EU does far more of this sort of thing to EU companies to ensure fair trade and practices between nations - but that doesn't get noticed by those outside of Europe. Just one example, it will soon cost no more to use mobile roaming in Europe than it will to use your mobile/cell in your native European country. No more individual companies gouging phone users because they happen to have traveled on holiday or, in some instances, have simple driven a short distance from one country to another. We like this sort of thing. It is the US that has the bad reputation for making service something that people cannot afford, and we will do what we want to ensure that US companies don't try to bring unfair practices here.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @05:08PM
You should do a little more research
I should do research for your claims?
the EU does far more of this sort of thing to EU companies to ensure fair trade and practices between nations - but that doesn't get noticed by those outside of Europe.
And all the citations you provided formed quite the convincing case. Oh wait...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by janrinok on Thursday July 16 2015, @05:26PM
Well, in that case, carry on whining.
If you want to trade in a country, you have to play by their rules, not the one's that you would like to bring with you.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @05:27PM
Well, in that case, carry on whining.
Translation: You have no evidence to back up your claims so you'll just sling ad homs.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @06:45PM
Well, in that case, carry on whining.
Translation: You have no evidence to back up your claims so you'll just sling ad homs.
Nice to see the tradition of the "ugly American" continued with such verve! And yes, this is an argumentum ad hominem, but that is not always a fallacy, since sometimes the moral character of the person is relevant to the case.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @08:27PM
American? Hardly. I'm about 100 kg too light to be an American.