Qualcomm to Face EU Antitrust Rebuke for Apple Payments
- Penalty for breaching antitrust rules may come within weeks
- EU also probing Qualcomm modems, dropped earlier patent case
A Qualcomm baseband processor inside an Iphone 4S.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
Qualcomm Inc. is likely to be penalized in the coming weeks by the European Union for paying Apple Inc. to shun rival chip companies, according to a person familiar with the case.
Regulators are set to find the company violated antitrust law by using incentive payments to ensure exclusivity, the person said, asking not to be cited by name because the investigation is ongoing. EU officials have been studying a September ruling involving Intel Corp. that raised similar issues and could issue findings on Qualcomm as soon as next month, according to the person. The person didn’t discuss a potential fine, which is widely expected.