Brussels, Europe Brief News – According to Reuters, the General Court of Europe, the continent’s second-highest court, has ruled in favor of Qualcomm after the company contested a sentence of €997 million (about $1.045 million) handed down by authorities of the European Union for payments made to Apple to utilize Qualcomm processors. The sentence was handed down for payments made to Qualcomm by Apple in exchange for allowing Apple to use Qualcomm processors. Let’s review the entire ordeal with the company.
Read More: WhatsApp Lets You Transfer Android Chats To iPhone
EU Fines the Qualcomm
In 2018, the EU imposed fines and said that the payments Qualcomm paid to Apple between 2011 and 2016 to use its chips violated EU competition rules exclusively. These payments were made in exchange for Apple continuing to utilize Qualcomm’s processors. Apple paid these payments to Qualcomm in exchange for the latter company’s use of Apple’s CPUs.
EU Issued Statement
In a statement that followed the decision to levy the sanction, Margrethe Vestager, the Commissioner for Competition for the European Union, claimed that “this meant that no rival could effectively fight Qualcomm in this market, regardless of how great their products were.” Qualcomm believed it kept its rival, the chipmaker Intel, from entering the market by making it prohibitively expensive for Apple to switch suppliers. Qualcomm did this by keeping the competition from entering the market.
Court’s Decision Regarding the Trial
According to Reuters, the European General Court said in its decision that was issued today that “a series of procedural flaws harmed Qualcomm’s rights of defense and undermined the Commission’s investigation of the behavior charged against Qualcomm.” This statement was made about the behavior that the Commission investigated.
The court also expressed skepticism regarding the EU’s analysis of competition by pointing out that “Apple had had no technical alternative to Qualcomm’s LTE chipsets for the majority of its requirements during the period concerned” and that “the Commission failed to take into account all of the relevant factual circumstances.”
The court’s reasoning behind this line was that “Apple had had no technical alternative to Qualcomm’s LTE chipsets for the majority of its requirements during the period concerned.” The court took both of these considerations into account when making its decision. Within the European Union (EU), regulatory agencies now have the right to file an appeal with the EU Court of Justice (CJEU).
Also Read: Instagram Launches New Parental Control in UK
The Takeaway!
When the sanction was handed down, Vestager said that it should serve as a warning to other technological organizations considering participating in acts comparable to those who were fined for their involvement in the conduct that led to the sanction. Because of the verdict, the European Union’s attempts to regulate the quickly developing and well-funded information technology sector have suffered a huge and embarrassing defeat.
