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South Korea: Regulator lowers fine on Qualcomm

By  |  March 21, 2019

According to a report by Reuters, South Korea’s antitrust regulator has lowered a decade-old penalty imposed on US chipmaker Qualcomm Inc by 18% to US$200 million, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) announced on Thursday.

The reduction comes after the Supreme Court overturned in January one of several lower court rulings against the US firm for abusing its dominant market position.

In 2009, the KFTC fined Qualcomm 273 billion won (US$242.6 million) for abusing its market power in CDMA modem and radio frequency chips, which were then used in handsets made by South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and LG Electronics Inc.

The KFTC stated said it had reset the penalty to reflect the Supreme Court’s ruling, adding however that a “monopolist enterprise’s abuse of its market position cannot be tolerated.”

Full Content: Reuters

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