Settlement of the anti-trust dispute with Chinese regulators appears to be only the beginning of Qualcomm's woes, as mobile chipmaker now faces a new investigation into its business practices in South Korea.
South Korea's Fair Trade Commission – the country's top antitrust regulator – has launched a probe into whether Qualcomm is abusing its dominant market position there.
US-based chipmaker already faced a similar investigation from China's National Development and Reform Commission, which ruled that Qualcomm had a monopoly on mobile chips in the Middle Kingdom and was using that position to charge customers unfair and excessive fees. Qualcomm agreed to pay $975m to Chinese authorities to terminate a 14 month anti-trust investigation.
It is not clear, what caught Korean regulators' eye this time. Qualcomm also declined to comment. But this won't be the first time that Qualcomm has tussled with the Fair Trade Commission. In 2009 the agency slapped the chipmaker with a record fine of more than $200m, reportedly for discriminating against customers who used local competitors' products.
In the 2009 case, Qualcomm maintained that its business practices were "legal, appropriate, and competition-friendly" – but it paid the fine anyway, just as it plans to do in the China settlement.
Asian markets are extremely important for the chip-making firm, if it wants to
maintain its growth. South Korea is home to Samsung, the largest
mobe-maker in the world, as well as LG Electronics and Pantech, and Qualcomm builds processors, radios and other chips for mobile phones.
China's population of 1.35 billion, meanwhile, is the largest potential phone market in the world – and the Chinese are increasingly buying their kit from local manufacturers like Huawei, Xiaomi, and ZTE.
