Qualcomm rejected the agency's case as "significantly flawed," arguing that reasoning at the heart of the civil complaint is wrong. "This tax weakens Qualcomm's competitors, including by reducing demand for their processors, and serves to maintain Qualcomm's monopoly in baseband processor markets." The suit also alleges that Qualcomm "extracted exclusivity from Apple in exchange for reduced patent royalties," which prevented the iPhone maker from getting processors from Qualcomm's competitors from 2011 to 2016. "This is an extremely disappointing decision to rush to file a complaint," Rosenberg said. The San Diego, California, group in 2015 agreed to pay $975 million to settle antitrust charges in China.

Source: The Nation Bangkok January 18, 2017 00:08 UTC