Qualcomm faced a setback on Wednesday when the European Union’s General Court dismissed most of its appeal regarding a 242 million euro fine imposed by EU regulators in 2019 for alleged antitrust violations related to cellphone chipsets. The court upheld the fine, accusing Qualcomm of engaging in “predatory pricing” to push a competitor, Icera, out of the market by selling 3G baseband chipsets below production costs. Despite examining Qualcomm’s arguments, the court rejected them all except for a minor plea regarding the calculation of the fine, reducing it to 238.7 million euros.
In a separate legal battle, the European Commission had fined Qualcomm $1.23 billion for allegedly bribing Apple to suppress competition. However, in 2022, the General Court overturned this decision after Qualcomm appealed the ruling. This development marks a significant turn in Qualcomm’s legal challenges in the EU over antitrust practices involving its technology products and market dominance.
