From CNET: Antitrust regulators for the EU have hit Qualcomm with a billion-dollar fine Wednesday for paying Apple to use only its chips.
The European Commission regulators have accused the chip giant of violating antitrust laws by making payments to ensure exclusivity.
But big as it is, the fine could have been bigger still. Regulators set the fine at 997.4 million euros (US$1.23 billion). Qualcomm could have faced a fine as high as 10 percent of its annual revenue, which was $22 billion in 2017.
Qualcomm said Wednesday that it "strongly disagrees" with the EU decision and will appeal it immediately.
"We are confident this agreement did not violate EU competition rules or adversely affect market competition or European consumers," said Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm, in a statement.
Qualcomm, the world's biggest provider of mobile chips, has created some of the essential standards for connecting phones to cellular networks. It derives a significant portion of its revenue from licensing that technology to other chipmakers, but has come under scrutiny in recent years for alleged monopolistic practices.
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