Qualcomm fined €238.7 million in EU antitrust case

The fine, imposed in 2019, was for predatory pricing practices between 2009 and 2011, aimed at undermining British firm Icera, now part of Nvidia Corp.
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Qualcomm faced another legal setback in the EU as the continent’s second-highest court largely upheld an EU antitrust fine, reducing it slightly to €238.7 million ($265.5 million) from the original €242 million. The fine, imposed by the European Commission in 2019, stemmed from Qualcomm’s practice of selling chipsets below cost between 2009 and 2011—a tactic known as predatory pricing—aimed at driving British competitor Icera, now part of Nvidia, out of the market.

Qualcomm argued that the chipsets in question only accounted for a small fraction (0.7%) of the market, making it unlikely they could have effectively blocked competitors. However, the General Court in Luxembourg dismissed most of the company’s claims, apart from a minor point regarding the fine’s calculation, which led to a slight reduction.

The ruling marks another chapter in Qualcomm’s legal battles with the EU. While the company can appeal on legal grounds to the EU Court of Justice, it has already experienced mixed results in the European courts. In 2021, Qualcomm overturned a separate €997 million fine, which had been levied for paying Apple billions to exclusively use its chips in iPhones and iPads from 2011 to 2016.

For now, the EU’s watchdog continues to pursue antitrust enforcement in the tech sector, with Qualcomm remaining a key target in its efforts to curb anti-competitive behaviour.