EU antitrust authorities have decided not to appeal against the ruling of Luxembourg’s General Court, Europe’s second highest court, which overturned Qualcomm’s US$991 million fine.
Apart from rejecting the fine, the court also rejected claims that Qualcomm paid Apple anti-competitive funds between 2011 and 2016 to use only its chips in all iPhones and iPads, effectively shutting out rivals such as Intel Corp. The investigation has been ongoing since 2015.
The decision was seen as a major setback for EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, who has previously fined major corporations such as Google and launched investigations into other technology companies such as Amazon, Apple and Meta.
Although the case can be appealed, Peter Alexiadis, visiting professor at King’s College London, said that even if the Commission were to win on the basis of the facts, such a victory would be hollow, as the Commission’s decision would undoubtedly be invalid on technical grounds, where its case appears inadequate.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.