Qualcomm Attempts to Overturn EU Fine

Qualcomm went to court seeking to overturn a €242 million fine imposed by the European Union in 2019. The company was fined for selling certain UMTS chipsets for 3G handsets below cost in an attempt to drive rival Icera out of the market.

Qualcomm's lawyer told the General Court of the EU that the 3G baseband chipsets it sold accounted for 0.7% of the UMTS market and therefore it couldn’t exclude rivals. A European Commission lawyer argued Qualcomm feared Icera’s potential to become a formidable rival.

EC had ruled Qualcomm under-priced the UMTS chipsets in the period from 2009 to 2011 following a lengthy probe. At the time, the US company noted Icera had since exited the sector for unrelated reasons. Qualcomm won an appeal in the same court in 2022 to overturn a €997 million fine imposed by the EC five years ago.