Qualcomm hit with $774M fine for antitrust violations in Taiwan

Qualcomm has been slapped with yet another fine for antitrust violations, this time in Taiwan. Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission has fined the company $774 million saying that the chip maker abused its monopoly over smartphone modems to squeeze higher licensing fees and better terms out of its customers.

The company effectively has a monopoly over CDMA, WCDMA (3G) and LTE chipsets, the Commission said, and it refuses to properly license its technology to others. Accordingly, the penalty will also have Qualcomm submit twice-a-year reports on negotiations with other companies.

In a statement, Qualcomm said it disagreed with the decision. Once the final decision is issued in the coming weeks, Qualcomm said it will challenge the decision in court.

“The fine bears no rational relationship to the amount of Qualcomm’s revenues or activities in Taiwan, and Qualcomm will appeal the amount of the fine and the method used to calculate it,” Qualcomm said.

The Taiwanese fine is the latest in a string of actions worldwide against Qualcomm. Last month, the chipmaker filed a second appeal in South Korea over an order from that country's FTC that resulted in an $850 million fine. In Europe, Qualcomm faces $669,000-a-day penalty after losing a July appeal.

Then, there is the US Federal Trade Commission that is also suing Qualcomm over its licensing practices. The company also suffered nearly $1 billion antitrust fine in China, back in 2015.