‘EU will not appeal against Qualcomm fine of billions’

The European Commission will not appeal the ruling to remove Qualcomm’s one billion euro fine. That fine was brushed aside because the General Court concluded that there were ‘procedural irregularities’.

Reuters sources argue that the European Commission considers it ‘too difficult’ to convince the court to uphold the fine. The news agency contacted the European Commission with a request for comment, but it declined.

In 2018, the European Commission fined Qualcomm €997 million for unfair agreements with Apple about the use of its 4G modem chips. According to European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, the American chip designer has paid billions to Apple to exclude competitors. This harmed competition, so that consumers had less choice and innovation was slowed down, according to the European Commission at the time.

Qualcomm challenged that decision and was proved right in April of this year. The General Court then questioned the competitive analysis made and noted, among other things, that Apple had no technical alternative to Qualcomm’s 4G modems during the period. According to the ruling, the Commission had ‘failed to take into account all the relevant factual circumstances’.

The case in question, in which a new ruling has now been made, specifically concerns 4G modems. Qualcomm was also fined EUR 242 million by the EU in 2019 for selling 3G chipsets too cheaply.