InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[dndodd]

Client Update
April 2014
Competition & Antitrust
1 Rajah & Tann LLP
Competition Highlights –
ASEAN & Beyond


National Development And Reform Commission (“NDRC”) Moves Against Qualcomm And IDC
On 19 February 2014, the NDRC confirmed in a news conference that the NDRC had started investigations on US wireless technology firm, Qualcomm. According to Xu Kunlin, the head of the price supervision and anti-monopoly bureau at the NDRC,investigations began in November 2013 after the regulators received complaints accusing Qualcomm of overcharging in China and abusing its dominance. Lu Yanchun, a senior official with the NRDC, also disclosed that the investigations are at an early stage. If found
guilty, Qualcomm may be fined up to a maximum of 10% of its revenue in China for the previous fiscal year under China’s anti-monopoly laws. Qualcomm reported revenues of USD 12.3 billion in China for the last fiscal year and as such may face a fine in excess of USD 1 billion. On the same occasion, Lu also disclosed that InterDigital, a US company which develops patented technologies for mobile devices and networks, is also being investigated by the NDRC for overcharging in China and abusing its dominance. Investigations in this case however appears to be more advanced as Lu noted that InterDigital had been “very cooperative” during the investigations and had taken “some positive steps”. Separately,InterDigital also apologised in a December 2013 statement for “misunderstanding Chinese laws”.

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