Qualcomm Tumbles After Losing U.S. Antitrust Ruling
- Judge’s ruling could force Qualcomm to renegotiate licenses
- Chipmaker says it ‘strongly disagrees,” and will appeal
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Qualcomm Inc. shares fell the most in more than two years after a U.S. judge ruled that the company violated antitrust law by abusing its dominant position in the market for cellphone chips to exact excessive licensing fees from phone makers and suppress competition.
The ruling, made public late Tuesday in California, challenges Qualcomm’s business model and could upend the smartphone industry. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh sided with the Federal Trade Commission in a case brought in 2017 accusing the company of anti-competitive practices. The ruling comes one month after Qualcomm and Apple Inc. struck a settlement in a similar lawsuit brought by the iPhone maker, which agreed to continue paying the licensing fees.