Record Qualcomm Wins Main When European Union Can’t Issue Court of Appeal ruling with $991 million in fines

Qualcomm is said to have recorded a major victory over EU antitrust regulators. Experts familiar with the matter hope EU antitrust regulators will not appeal a court ruling that eliminated a €997 million (about Rs 8,000) fine against manufacturers American chips. The ruling came from the Luxembourg-based General Court, the second highest in Europe. It said that procedural irregularities in the European Commission’s handling of the case had negatively affected Qualcomm’s defense rights. Furthermore, the judges rejected the Commission’s claims that Qualcomm’s payments to Apple were anticompetitive.

According to Reuters, EU antitrust regulators have not reviewed all relevant facts regarding payments made by Qualcomm arrive Apple. People familiar with the matter believe it will be difficult for the EU’s competition watchdog to win appeals on both counts.

In a 2018 decision, the EU watchdog accused Qualcomm of paying billions of dollars to Apple between 2011 and 2016. It claimed that Qualcomm made these payments to block chipmakers. opponents like Intel and make sure that the Cupertino company uses its chips in iPhones and iPads.

In recent times, EU regulators seem to be tightening their grip Big technology. EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager has handed out billions of Euro fines to industry giants such as Google, AmazonApple and Meta.

Earlier this month, EU antitrust regulators were also reportedly planning to question app developers about payment-related information on the Google Play Store. Regulators wanted to seek details on whether Alphabet was talking about Google’s threat to remove apps from its Play Store if it used other payment options.