Qualcomm has been slapped with a fine from Taiwanese Fair Trade Commission to the tune of $774 million. The FTC’s (Fair Trade Commission) described the reason for the fine is an abuse of its unique position over smartphone modems. The brand uses this to gain more licensing fees from Taiwanese firms. Taiwan is the latest country to hit back on Qualcomm’s abusive licensing practices after China and South Korea. Both these countries have also fined the chipmaker for the same reason in the past. Moreover, even Apple has the same issues and is currently engaged in lawsuits against Qualcomm.
The FTC explained that Qualcomm’s monopoly in CDMA and LTE chips, as well as some big patents for the tech, allows them to squeeze more fees and also deny other companies necessary patents. However, the lawsuit will demand an end to such practices from Qualcomm.
Although, the chipmaker remains adamant that there is no wrongdoing in this. “The fine bears no rational relationship to the amount of Qualcomm’s revenues or activities in Taiwan, and Qualcomm will appeal the amount of the fine and the method used to calculate it,” says the manufacturer.
Qualcomm makes most of its money through licensing patents. Even though, its silicon wafers also bring in a share of the revenue. Now, things aren’t looking very rosy for them as a number of countries have sought an end to their abusive demands.
Source: Qualcomm