Qualcomm gets €997 million EU fine for Apple chip payments

Qualcomm was fined €997 million by the European Union for paying Apple to shun rival chips in its iPhones.

The biggest maker of chips that help run smartphones "paid billions of US dollars to a key customer, Apple, so that it would not buy from rivals," EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in an emailed statement.

"This meant that no rival could effectively challenge Qualcomm in this market, no matter how good their products were."

Qualcomm violated antitrust rules by using incentive payments to Apple, one of its biggest customers, as well as price reductions to ensure exclusivity, the EU said.

The company shut out rivals from the market for LTE baseband chipsets used in the 4G mobile phone standard for five years, it said.

The EU moves come as Qualcomm tries to fend off a $105 billion (€85 billion) hostile takeover by rival Broadcom and wages war with Apple in numerous court cases around the world over patent licensing.

Qualcomm rejected Broadcom's offer last year, telling shareholders that the bid undervalued the company and "comes with significant regulatory uncertainty".

The fine represents 4.9% of Qualcomm's revenue in 2017, the EU said.