Qualcomm to Appeal European Commission Finding on Decade-Old Chip Shipments

SAN DIEGO, July 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) announced that the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition, after a 10-year investigation, issued a finding that Qualcomm engaged in predatory pricing practices for some sales of three cellular baseband chipsets to two customers during a few calendar quarters between 2009 and 2011, and fined Qualcomm 242 million euros.  Qualcomm plans to appeal the finding to the General Court of the European Union. Qualcomm intends to provide a financial guarantee in lieu of paying the fine while the appeal is pending.

"The Commission spent years investigating sales to two customers, each of whom said that they favored Qualcomm chips not because of price but because rival chipsets were technologically inferior.  This decision is unsupported by the law, economic principles or market facts, and we look forward to a reversal on appeal," said Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm.

"The Commission's decision is based on a novel theory of alleged below-cost pricing over a very short time period and for a very small volume of chips. There is no precedent for this theory, which is inconsistent with well-developed economic analysis of cost recovery, as well as Commission practice. Contrary to the Commission's findings, Qualcomm's alleged conduct did not cause anticompetitive harm to Icera, the company that filed the complaint. Icera was later acquired by Nvidia for hundreds of millions of dollars and continued to compete in the relevant market for several years after the end of the alleged conduct. We cooperated with Commission officials every step of the way throughout the protracted investigation, confident that the Commission would recognize that there were no facts supporting a finding of anti-competitive conduct.  On appeal we will expose the meritless nature of this decision."            

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm invents breakthrough technologies that transform how the world connects, computes and communicates. When we connected the phone to the Internet, the mobile revolution was born. Today, our inventions are the foundation for life-changing products, experiences, and industries. As we lead the world to 5G, we envision this next big change in cellular technology spurring a new era of intelligent, connected devices and enabling new opportunities in connected cars, remote delivery of health care services, and the IoT — including smart cities, smart homes, and wearables. Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of our products and services businesses, including the QCT semiconductor business. For more information, visit Qualcomm's website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.

Qualcomm is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries.

Qualcomm Contacts:

Christie Thoene, Public Affairs--
Phone: 1-858-845-5959
Email: [email protected]

Pete Lancia, Corporate Communications
Phone:  1-858-845-5959
Email: [email protected]

Mauricio Lopez-Hodoyan, Investor Relations
Phone:  1-858-651-1387
Email:  [email protected]

SOURCE Qualcomm Incorporated

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