Qualcomm may be on the receiving end of some bad news in South Korea as it appears that the Fair Trade Commission of South Korea is set to fine the chipmaker up to 1 trillion won for abusing its patents.
The source of this fine stems from a 17-month investigation into Qualcomm. According to the FTC, Qualcomm has been charging Korean manufacturers excessively high licensing fees for their chips. According to reports from The Korea Times, Qualcomm has allegedly calculated the fees on the basis of the wholesale prices of the phones temselvess, instead of collecting licensing fees only based on its CDMA-related patents. “Qualcomm has been collecting royalty fees from mobile phone manufactureres based on certain fixed rates from the suggested price of a mobile device,” says an FTX official speaking to The Korea Times. “Qualcomm should have sought royalty fees based on each chipset.”
The FTC is expected to issue the first verdict in this case on the 20th of July. Should Qualcomm be found guilty, this will be the largest fine that the FTC has ever issued.
Source: The Korea Time, Android Authority