Taiwan: Qualcomm to appeal US$773 antitrust fine

Qualcomm will appeal the US$773 million fine it received from the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) on Wednesday, October 11, the San Diego, California-based semiconductor manufacturer said shortly after yet another competition watchdog concluded that the company employed monopolistic business practices. The firm is now in the process of assessing its options and will file to stay any sanctions set to follow as a result of the TFTC’s decision while it’s in the process of appealing the verdict that it strongly disagrees with, according to the tech giant’s statement on the matter.

The appeal process itself has yet to be initiated by Qualcomm as the firm requires an official decision from the TFTC before it’s able to legally challenge it, with its attorneys expecting the government agency to provide it with the ruling in the coming weeks, presumably by early November.

The maker of Snapdragon-series chips didn’t go into many details regarding the contents of the ruling itself but based its disagreement on the fact that there is “no rational relationship” between the severity of the TFTC’s fine and the level of revenue Qualcomm records in the Far Eastern country, adding that the size of its Taiwanese operations also couldn’t be used as the basis for a historic fine issued by the agency. Due to that belief, the company is adamant to specifically appeal the method used by the TFTC to calculate the fine, as well as the amount of the fine itself.

Full Content: NBC

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