Qualcomm May Face EU Antitrust After Nvidia Complaint

[artivix]

Qualcomm, already facing an investigation in China over alleged monopoly practices, may also soon face an antitrust investigation from the European Union.

The investigation on the world's top mobile chip maker will be in relation to a complaint made four years ago by an Nvidia subsidiary, Reuters reported.

The subsidiary of Nvidia that lodged the complaint is British mobile phone chip maker Icera, which the Qualcomm rival purchased in 2011.

Icera accused Qualcomm of anti-competitive strategies in June 2010, filing a complaint with the European Commission. While the details of the lodged complaint have not been released publicly, a source revealed that Icera was accusing Qualcomm of utilizing incentives related to patents and exclusionary pricing for chipsets to make it much less appealing for customers to work with Icera.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/14167/20140828/qualcomm-may-face-eu-antitrust-investigation.htm


Companies can play fair or not, but if Qualcomm making exclusions and payments to customers then they will be in big trouble!

 

[Roland00Address]

Not talking about this specific case but I hate our system even if its the best system we made so far and we continue to improve it.

I hate how you can only prosecute and deal with cases that happen years ago, that you are not really fixing the problem when it occurs and that companies can go bankrupt before the problem gets fixed.

Yet at the same time we need time and perspective for if we are too proactive we are just the other extreme.

I hate how we do not have a perfect system but we do not live in a perfect world so asking for perfection is stupid.

----

Emotional Rant Over.

 

[GreenChile]

Anyone know how much market share Qualcomm has in the mobile space? It's got to be a pretty high percentage.

 

[TuxDave]

Anyone know how much market share Qualcomm has in the mobile space? It's got to be a pretty high percentage.

Depends on which part.

http://androidcommunity.com/qualcomm-commands-63-of-the-soc-market-according-to-study-20140226/

63% of SoCs, but probably a ridiculously higher number if you want to focus on LTE modems.

 

[ViRGE]

Depends on which part.

http://androidcommunity.com/qualcomm-commands-63-of-the-soc-market-according-to-study-20140226/

63% of SoCs, but probably a ridiculously higher number if you want to focus on LTE modems.

Correct. For LTE basebands the answer is essentially all of the market share.

As for SoCs, 63% sounds right for the whole market. For the high-end market they are likely closer to 80%; only Apple really ships high-end SoCs in a large volume opposite Qualcomm. Tegra and Exynos sell some units, but it hasn't been a ton.

 

[GreenChile]

Correct. For LTE basebands the answer is essentially all of the market share.

As for SoCs, 63% sounds right for the whole market. For the high-end market they are likely closer to 80%; only Apple really ships high-end SoCs in a large volume opposite Qualcomm. Tegra and Exynos sell some units, but it hasn't been a ton.

Really? I'm surprised Apple has such a small piece of the high end share volume. I would have guessed it was closer to 50% but I clearly don't have a clue if what you say is true.

 

[Idontcare]

Not talking about this specific case but I hate our system even if its the best system we made so far and we continue to improve it.

I hate how you can only prosecute and deal with cases that happen years ago, that you are not really fixing the problem when it occurs and that companies can go bankrupt before the problem gets fixed.

Yet at the same time we need time and perspective for if we are too proactive we are just the other extreme.

I hate how we do not have a perfect system but we do not live in a perfect world so asking for perfection is stupid.

----

Emotional Rant Over.

The fundamental flaw in the system is that they go after the business (shareholders) and not the people who actually made the illegal decisions (and profited with salary and bonuses in the meantime).

Hold the original decision makers accountable, not the job-creating business entities and public shareholders who are basically left holding the bag when the government oversight folks show up years later.

Take the Icera situation, the problem starts when the situation is described as being a Qualcomm action versus outing the very names of the very individuals who made the decision (and authorized it) within Qualcomm. Find that person or those people and hold their feet to the fire, don't let them and their actions hide anonymously behind a Qualcomm employee badge while the rest of the company (and its shareholders) get a black eye for it.

 

[ViRGE]

Really? I'm surprised Apple has such a small piece of the high end share volume. I would have guessed it was closer to 50% but I clearly don't have a clue if what you say is true.

Apple does very well in the West, but that isn't the story in the East.

Qualcomm is just killing it because they offer the modem everyone wants in the same SoC as the processor.

 

[lefty2]

Correct. For LTE basebands the answer is essentially all of the market share.

I for one, welcome our new LTE baseband overlords

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Apple does very well in the West, but that isn't the story in the East.

Qualcomm is just killing it because they offer the modem everyone wants in the same SoC as the processor.

Asia prefers Samsung.

 

[witeken]

I for one, welcome our new LTE baseband overlords

Intel wants to be number 2 in 2014.

 

[NTMBK]

Intel wants to be number 2 in 2014.

Yeah, and I want a pony

 

[blackened23]

Asia prefers Samsung.

Uhm, you mean asia prefers whatever is cheap as heck. That's why mediatek SOCs are so prevalent over there.

 

[witeken]

Yeah, and I want a pony

Which is why Intel used expect.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Number 2 in LTE isnt that hard. You need what to be number 2, 2-3%?

 

[DeathReborn]

Number 2 in LTE isnt that hard. You need what to be number 2, 2-3%?

Basically to ship more LTE Modems than Nvidia does Tegra 4i's.

What I want to know is: Since this was raised by Icera and not the EU itself would Nvidia get any monetary compensation from this case if it goes against Qualcomm?

If guilty they should ban Qualcomm Modems from the EU for 2+ years and allow Nvidia, Samsung, Intel and whoever else wants to operate in the market establish a foothold. But that's just my opinion...

 

[ShintaiDK]

nVidia isnt getting anything. The fines goes to the states. EU and China in this case. Assuming Qualcomm is found guildty.

A ban wont happen either.