Qualcomm Attacks EU’s Apple ‘Bias’ in $1.2 Billion Court Clash

  • EU fined Qualcomm in 2018 for exclusivity payments to Apple
  • Qualcomm fights antitrust penalty in three-day court hearing

Photographer: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

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Qualcomm Inc. accused European Union investigators of being “biased” towards Apple Inc. when they slapped it with a 997 million-euro ($1.2 billion) antitrust fine for allegedly pressuring the iPhone maker to only buy its 4G chips.

The European Commission “engaged in a biased investigation” and allowed Apple to “dictate the evidence, narrative and conclusions,” Miguel Rato, a lawyer for Qualcomm, told the EU General Court on Tuesday, citing an internal Apple memo. This was “gross and indefensible maladministration.”