The European Commission has issued a 997 million euro fine against Qualcomm, a US company among the largest manufacturers of processors and other components for mobile devices. The company is accused of violating free competition laws in a series of agreements with Apple. According to the Commission's investigation, Qualcomm paid several billion dollars between 2011 and 2016 to Apple to ensure that the company exclusively uses its components for receiving the 4G signal in iPhones. The Commission says that in this way “no rival could compete with Qualcomm in this market sector, regardless of the quality of their products”. This practice is not lawful in the European Union and as a result Qualcomm has been fined.
A nearly one billion euro fine is never good news for a company, but it's not even more so for Qualcomm, which is going through a very complicated period. Apple sued her accusing her of not complying with certain licenses related to electronic components. On a business and financial level, Qualcomm is also trying to resist an unsolicited takeover bid of $ 130 billion from Broadcom, another major telecommunications components and systems manufacturer.
Qualcomm also has problems related to its market shares, which continue to shrink, thanks to the success of processors from other brands including those from Intel, which have not long been in the mobile sector. In the final quarter of last year, Qualcomm saw a 90 percent reduction in its profits. The company is also engaged in the difficult acquisition of NXP, a Dutch microchip manufacturer, still awaiting the necessary authorizations from the antitrust.
