The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

FTC sues QCOM:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/federal-trade-commission-files-antitrust-lawsuit-against-qualcomm-1484689732

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday sued Qualcomm Inc., alleging the chip maker engaged in unlawful tactics to maintain its monopoly on a semiconductor device used in cellphones.

The FTC, in a suit filed in a California federal court, alleged that Qualcomm used its position as the dominant provider of baseband processors, devices that enable cellular communications, to impose onerous terms on phone manufacturers and hobble competitors.

Qualcomm won’t sell its processors unless a customer agrees to the company’s preferred patent-licensing terms, which forces phone makers to pay elevated royalties to Qualcomm when they use a competitor’s chips, the FTC alleged.

As noted in #msg-127476161, Qualcomm is the Monsanto of telecom.