Qualcomm, will not have to pay a fine of $1.05 billion

The European Union's second-highest court ruled in Qualcomm's favor. The court overturned the European Commission's ruling in 2018. Following that, the corporation was fined 1.05 billion dollars.

The commission accused Qualcomm of abusing its market dominance by utilizing LTE processors in 2018. From 2011 through 2016, the business reportedly paid Apple billions of dollars to utilize its semiconductors solely in iPhones and iPads.

This allegedly stopped competitors like Intel from securing contracts with Apple. However, the General Court has now declared that "the Commission's decision in its entirety" is invalid.

The General Court indicated in its statement that it made its conclusion based on two considerations. The first is that he uncovered a "series of procedural errors" in Qualcomm's defense.

Despite being required to do so, the Commission appears to have failed to record meetings and conference calls with third parties in connection with the case.

The court, therefore, made its ruling based only on Qualcomm's claimed abuse of market dominance for LTE chips, despite the fact that the accusations are also involved misuse of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) chipset.

Furthermore, the General Court determined that, while Qualcomm's payments to Apple hindered Apple's ability to use the products of other firms, there were no viable alternatives at the time other than their LTE processors.

It was similar with Intel

It was determined that there was insufficient evidence to determine if Qualcomm's payments barred Apple from adopting chips from other vendors in its iPad models introduced in 2014 and 2015.

This is the second fine imposed by the European Commission on significant technological companies that the General Court overturned. A court also reversed a 1.06 billion euro fine issued by the Commission on Intel in January.

The commission accused Intel of exploiting its dominating market position by offering incentives to manufacturers like HP, Dell, and Lenovo to use its microprocessors rather than rival AMDs.

Qualcomm's battle, though, may not be done. According to Reuters, the Commission can still file an appeal with Europe's highest court.

Post by - Bryan C.