The General Court, the second European authority in matters of justice after the Court of Justice of the European Union, has just ruled in favor of Qualcomm in a case of anti-competitive practices initiated by the European Commission. This decision could have repercussions for the way the EU regulates big tech.
Of the ” procedural irregularities »
In 2018, the European Commission fined Qualcomm $997 million for anticompetitive practices. The American company has indeed been found guilty of having paid several billion dollars to Apple from 2011 to 2016 so that the Apple brand only uses Qualcomm’s LTE chips in its iPhones and iPads, the objective being prevent rivals like Intel from working with Apple.
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Qualcomm appealed this decision, and finally won. The Tribunal, located in Luxembourg, has indeed stated that ” a number of procedural irregularities have affected Qualcomm’s rights of defense and invalidate the Commission’s analysis of the behavior alleged against the company », Reports Reuters.
The tribunal also questioned the Commission’s analysis, noting that ” Apple did not have a technical alternative to Qualcomm’s LTE chips for the majority of its needs during the affected period. “, and ” the Commission failed to take into account all the relevant factual circumstances “.
Qualcomm logically greeted this news with “ satisfaction “.
The Commission takes a hit
This is not the first time that a fine has been swept aside in this way by the European Court. Last January, he overturned the EU’s $1.2 billion antitrust fine imposed on Intel, in a case linked to the chipmaker’s practices dating back two decades, with the sanction itself being handed down in 2009.
When the European Commission issued its complaint against Qualcomm in 2018, Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, said it was a warning to all tech companies using similar practices. The European Court’s verdict, which invalidates this fine, represents a blow to the EU’s attempts to regulate the fast-moving and well-funded technology sector.
Perhaps the Commission will be more cautious and move less quickly to give a verdict during its next investigations.
Qualcomm, an example for other tech giants?
Google, which tried to have two major fines imposed by the EU annulled, one for its abuse of a dominant position with Android and the second concerning the practices of Adsense, its advertising agency, could well be inspired by the arguments of the Tribunal to assert its rights against the Commission.
As a reminder, Apple is also targeted by an EU investigation for abuse of a dominant position in the music streaming sector, and this is also the case of Amazon, suspected of having exploited the data of its third-party sellers for its own products. No doubt these tech giants and court regulars will take note of the “ procedural irregularities noted by the European Court.