Posted on 07/03/2006 7:06:34 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
US firms accuse Qualcomm of unfair practices in South Korea
SEOUL, July 3, 2006 (AFP) - Two US technology firms have filed a complaint with South Korea's antitrust watchdog accusing US mobile phone chip developer Qualcomm of abusing its market dominance, officials have said.
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC), a state organization watching for fair trade, said the complaint was lodged by Texas Instruments and Broadcom.
"Qualcomm was accused of selling its handset chips bundled with other chip products by using its market dominance," an FTC official said.
Qualcomm has monopoly market status in South Korea as the sole supplier of handset chips using code division multiple access ( CDMA) technology.
Texas Instruments and Broadcom claimed that Qualcomm is blocking their entry into the South Korean market by bundling multi-media chips with its CDMA chips, Yonhap news agency said.
Last year, six firms including Texas Instruments and Nokia of Finland filed a complaint with the European Union, accusing the San Diego-based company of collecting excessive royalty fees.
South Korean firms have also accused Qualcomm of selling mobile phone chips bundled with other software, prompting regulators to raid its office in Seoul in April.
Qualcomm collects 5.25 percent of local handset sales in royalties and 5.75 percent on exports by South Korean manufacturers.
A handout photo dated January 2006 shows a Samsung mobile phone equipped with a chip from US mobile phone chip developer Qualcomm. Two US technology firms have filed a complaint with South Korea's antitrust watchdog accusing Qualcomm of abusing its market dominance.(AFP/Samsung Electronics/File)
Ping!
I'm not sure what they hope to accomplish, Qualcomm invented CDMA and Korea chose to run with it as their standard. Maybe they could force Qualcomm to ease off on price gouging.
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