BRUSSELS: Europe’s competition regulator is training its sights on Qualcomm Inc., adding to regulatory woes that have long dogged the big mobile chip maker.
The European Commission, the bloc’s top antitrust authority, said it had opened two formal investigations of the San Diego-based company. The commission said it would investigate possible predatory pricing tactics by Qualcomm to determine whether the company charged prices below its production costs to squeeze out competitors.
The commission will also investigate whether Qualcomm offered discounts to customers on the condition that they buy baseband chips exclusively from the company. Baseband chips manage cellular connections in devices such as smartphones and tablets.
Qualcomm could face fines of up to 10% of its global annual revenue and be forced to change its business practices if it is found to have breached EUantitrust rules. The company disclosed in November that it had been notified of an EU investigation.
