Qualcomm has brought anti-trust investigations against it by the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to an end by agreeing to several terms and conditions, which includes a 6 billion Yuan (about RM3.4 billion) fine.
Under the terms of the settlement, Qualcomm will have to readjust its royalty structure for Chinese customers. The company will also have to offer essential patents separately from other patents, preventing the company from bundling other less important patents and charging more for them. Essentially, the superconductor manufacturer is pleading guilty to breaching anti-monopoly laws in China.
That being said, this means that Qualcomm will now be free to conduct its business in China, meaning that it is gaining the entire Chinese market in exchange for a small fine and an apology. It has also revised predicted earnings for the coming financial year upwards, indicating that the fine applied will have no impact on the potential gains from working with more Chinese manufacturers.
How this turns out for Qualcomm is interesting, but even more interesting for the consumer is seeing the new Snapdragon 810 appearing on more reasonably priced smartphones out of China.
[Source: PR Newswire]
