EU launches antitrust investigations into Qualcomm

The European Union (EU) has opened two antitrust investigations into the American chip maker Qualcomm, the world's leading supplier of chipsets, according to the bloc's competition regulator.

The European Commission said in a statement on Thursday that they would investigate possible abuses by Qualcomm in the field of baseband chipsets used in consumer electronic devices.

One investigation will examine whether Qualcomm had abused its dominant market position in the region by offering financial incentives to customers with the condition they buy the baseband chipsets exclusively or almost exclusively from Qualcomm.

The EU's regulator will focus on Qualcomm's conditions related to the supply of certain chipsets that comply with 3G (UMTS) and 4G (LTE) standards and are used to deliver cellular mobile connectivity in smartphones and tablets.

The second investigation will look into whether Qualcomm engaged in "predatory pricing" by charging prices below costs with a view to forcing its competitors out of the market.

The probe concerns Qualcomm's pricing practices with regard to certain chipsets that comply with 3G (UMTS) standards and are used to deliver cellular mobile connectivity.

"We want to be sure that high-tech suppliers can compete on the merits of their products," Margrethe Vestager, EU's commissioner in charge of competition policy, said in a statement.

It's said that Qualcomm could face fines of up to 10 percent of its global annual revenue and be forced to change its business practices if it is found to have breached EU antitrust rules.

In response to the EU's announcement, Qualcomm said it was disappointed that European authorities had opened the investigations, but that the company would continue to work with the region's antitrust officials.

"While we were disappointed to hear this, we have been cooperating and will continue to cooperate with the Commission, and we continue to believe that any concerns are without merit," Qualcomm said in a statement.

There is no legal deadline to complete inquiries into anti-competitive conduct. It is usually takes several years for the EU to complete antitrust investigations.

The two probes were seen as the EU's latest in a number of recent competition inquiries aimed at U.S. technology giants.

Earlier in June, the EU launched an antitrust investigation into online retailer Amazon over its distribution of e-books. In April, the EU alleged that Google abused its dominant position in the markets for general internet search services and has also opened a separate antitrust probe into Google's mobile operating system Android.

Pointing to the EU's various probes into American technology giants' activities, European officials have emphasized that these investigations have not unfairly focused on American companies.

"Many customers use electronic devices such as a mobile phone or a tablet, and we want to ensure that they ultimately get value for money," Vestager said. Endit