Qualcomm faces shareholder class action: chip bundling affects fair competition

According to news in the morning of March 22, Beijing time, a US federal judge has ruled that shareholders who sue chipmaker Qualcomm for allegedly concealing anti-competitive sales and licensing practices can file a claim against the company in the form of a class action.

In a lawsuit filed in San Diego, Calif., the shareholders allege that Qualcomm and its executives have repeatedly described its business of selling chips and licensing its technology to other companies as separate businesses, when in fact the company bundled them together, thus affecting fair competition.

Investors who played a leading role in the case said the false statements artificially inflated Qualcomm's share price between 2012 and 2017.

Qualcomm, for its part, called the allegations by shareholders baseless.

Us District Judge Jinsook Ohta on Monday rejected Qualcomm's argument that the sales had been made public.

The judge said Qualcomm's response to antitrust charges from regulators revealed "more details" about these actions and affected customers.

Those affected include investors who purchased Qualcomm common stock and suffered losses between February 1, 2012 and January 20, 2017.

Qualcomm paid 1.03 trillion won ($912.34 million) to the Korea Fair Trade Commission in 2017 after the regulator said it violated fair competition in licensing and chip sales.

In addition, Qualcomm is facing a consumer lawsuit in California, which the plaintiff accused of violating the state's law.