Qualcomms biz practices drove us out of chip market

Months after selling its smartphone modem chip business to Apple, Intel has said chipset making giant Qualcomm's business practices pushed it out of the modem chip market.

Intel has filed a brief supporting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and opposing Qualcomm's appeal of the judgment passed in May against Qualcomm by US District Court, Northern District of California.

The court found that "Qualcomm's licensing practices have strangled competition in the CDMA and premium LTE modem chip markets for years, and harmed rivals, OEMs and end consumers." The court also found that Qualcomm's conduct "unfairly tends to destroy competition itself."

"Intel agrees with the District Court's findings. Intel suffered the brunt of Qualcomm's anticompetitive behavior, was denied opportunities in the modem market, was prevented from making sales to customers and was forced to sell at prices artificially skewed by Qualcomm. We filed the brief because we believe it is important for the Court of Appeals to hear our perspective," Steven Rodgers, Intel's General Counsel, wrote in a post on Friday.

The California headquartered firm also noted that it sold its smartphone modem chip business to Apple at a "a multi-billion dollar loss".

"We invested billions, hired thousands, acquired two companies and built innovative world-class products that eventually made their way into Apple's industry-leading iPhones, including the most recently released iPhone 11. But when all was said and done, Intel could not overcome the artificial and insurmountable barriers to fair competition created by Qualcomm's scheme and was forced to exit the market this year," Rodgers noted.

Apple, in July, announced the acquisition of chip-maker Intel's smartphone modem business for $1 billion.

Approximately 2,200 Intel employees were then said to join Apple, along with intellectual property, equipment and leases.