Federal Trade Commission Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Qualcomm
WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday sued Qualcomm Inc., alleging the semiconductor company engaged in unlawful tactics to maintain a monopoly on a type of chip used in cellphones.
The FTC, in a suit filed in a California federal court, alleged that Qualcomm used its position as the dominant provider of baseband processors, devices that enable cellular communications, to impose onerous terms on phone manufacturers and hobble competitors.
Qualcomm won’t sell its processors unless a customer agrees to the company’s preferred patent-licensing terms, which forces phone makers to pay elevated royalties to Qualcomm when they use a competitor’s chips, the FTC alleged.
The complaint specifically highlighted Qualcomm’s dealings with Apple Inc., saying that when the iPhone maker sought relief from high royalties, Qualcomm conditioned partial relief on Apple using Qualcomm’s baseband chips exclusively from 2011 to 2016.