Islamabad, Sep 19: An earlier decision against Qualcomm, which found the tech giant guilty of exploitative pricing practices, was affirmed by the General Court of the European Union. The original fine of €242 million was, however, somewhat lowered by the court to €238.7 million.
The contract between Qualcomm and British software company Icera, which is currently an Nvidia subsidiary, lies at the heart of this dispute. Qualcomm is accused of selling chips below cost between 2009 and 2011, a tactic frequently used to keep other companies out of possible agreements.
Qualcomm has filed many challenges challenging the ruling. One of their main points indicated the minimal importance of the lawsuit by pointing out that the Qualcomm-Icera agreement only accounted for 0.7% of the market for the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System.
In spite of these efforts, the petition for a reduction in fine was only approved by the European court, leading to a little adjustment. There may still be more to this legal dispute. Qualcomm is still able to take its case all the way to the EU Court of Justice, which is the top court in the EU legal system.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship CPU for Android phones, is almost ready for release; it is scheduled to go on sale next month. According to rumors, Xiaomi is the only company with the exclusive right to release the first smartphone equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4; however, other OEMs plan to offer their own versions shortly after the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is released.There can be more OEMs on the list, such as Motorola, Vivo, Oppo etc.
