South Korean Anit-Trust Regulators Fine Qualcomm $208 Million

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South Korea’s anti-trust agency fined Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) $208 million today and said the wireless chip maker must stop discriminating against companies using competitor’s products, Reuters reports.

The Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), which had been investigating the case for more than three years, said Qualcomm abused its position in CDMA mobile phone chips (In 2008, it held 99.4 percent of the market). While major Korean handset makers, like Samsung and LG (SEO: 066570) are customers of Qualcomm, the Commission said “When licensing its CDMA mobile technology, Qualcomm levied higher royalties on companies that used modem chips supplied by rival companies.”

Qualcomm said it planned to appeal the fine. “There has been no illegal activity,” Qualcomm Korea head Cha Young-koo told reporters.

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