The Fair Trade Commission in South Korea is investigating Qualcomm for unfair market competition practices and may fine the chip maker up to 1 trillion Korean Won or $878 billion.
The FTC put Qualcomm under investigation 17 months ago for anti-competitive licensing and its final verdict will come out on July 20.
Apparently, Qualcomm misused its patents licensing and charged Korean manufacturers Samsung and LG unfair prices. Here is a quote from an FTC rep:
Qualcomm has been collecting royalty fees from mobile phone manufacturers based on certain fixed rates from the suggested price of a mobile device… Qualcomm should have sought royalty fees based on each chipset.
Qualcomm are suspected of charging patent fees based on the product's price instead of a fixed price for a specific patent. If proven true, Qualcomm may have unfairly overcharged Korean manufacturers by KRW 1 trillion, which is about $879 billion.
And while we are waiting for the verdict, there is a good chance Qualcomm be fined by July 20. Last year the chip maker settled for a fine of $1 billion by the Chinese authorities for the very same thing and is currently under investigation by the EU Commission.
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