By David Lawsky
SAN FRANCISCO, June 18 (Reuters) - South Korea's antitrust authorities have charged telephone maker Qualcomm Inc with unfair licensing terms in addition to charges the company has acknowledged, a source briefed on the matter said on Thursday.
The Korean Fair Trade Commission charges that Qualcomm set unreasonable and discriminatory terms for licensing its patents, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue.
Qualcomm has said publicly that the charges against it relate to its integration of multimedia products into its chipsets and also concern the rebates and discounts it gives chip customers. Two U.S. chip makers, Texas Instruments Inc , Broadcom Corp, have complained about its actions, Qualcomm has said.
It has also said that privately-held South Korean companies Nextreaming Corp and Thin Multimedia Inc have filed complaints against it with the KFTC.
Qualcomm was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.
The large producers of mobile phones in South Korea are Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, as well as smaller rival LG Electronics Inc and privately held Pantech.
The KFTC makes antitrust allegations, investigates them, and rules on them. It held a further day of hearings this week in its three-year-old investigation of Qualcomm. The source said two more days of hearings are set and a decision is expected in early July.
If found to have committed the violations, Qualcomm could be fined, required to change its business practices and required to advertise the changes in newspapers.
Mobile phone handset chipsets, which send and receive voice and data, are built based on international standards.
When Qualcomm got its patents folded into the standards it promised to license them on fair, reasonable and non- discriminatory terms.
The KFTC charges say Qualcomm violated South Korean antitrust law by breaking that commitment, harming chipset competition and causing consumers to pay more for handsets, the source said.
The charges have huge significance for Qualcomm. Over the years, Qualcomm has listed South Korea as a key geographic region for revenue because its customers there are among the world's largest producers of mobile phones.
South Korean media estimate Qualcomm's revenue from Korean makers to be be 2.5 trillion won to 3 trillion won ($2 billion-$2.4 billion) ($1=1253.8 Won).
Qualcomm has also been under investigation by the European Commission in Brussels for anti-competitive behavior.
Qualcom closed at $45.28, up 19 cents, and fell to 44.79 in after hours trading, down 1 percent.
(Reporting by David Lawsky, additional reporting by So-eui Rhee in Seoul; editing by Andre Grenon) Keywords: QUALCOMM/KOREA (E-mail david.lawsky@thomsonreuters.com +1 415 677 2505; Reuters Messaging david.lawsky.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
SAN FRANCISCO, June 18 (Reuters) - South Korea's antitrust authorities have charged telephone maker Qualcomm Inc with unfair licensing terms in addition to charges the company has acknowledged, a source briefed on the matter said on Thursday.
The Korean Fair Trade Commission charges that Qualcomm set unreasonable and discriminatory terms for licensing its patents, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue.
Qualcomm has said publicly that the charges against it relate to its integration of multimedia products into its chipsets and also concern the rebates and discounts it gives chip customers. Two U.S. chip makers, Texas Instruments Inc , Broadcom Corp, have complained about its actions, Qualcomm has said.
It has also said that privately-held South Korean companies Nextreaming Corp and Thin Multimedia Inc have filed complaints against it with the KFTC.
Qualcomm was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.
The large producers of mobile phones in South Korea are Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, as well as smaller rival LG Electronics Inc and privately held Pantech.
The KFTC makes antitrust allegations, investigates them, and rules on them. It held a further day of hearings this week in its three-year-old investigation of Qualcomm. The source said two more days of hearings are set and a decision is expected in early July.
If found to have committed the violations, Qualcomm could be fined, required to change its business practices and required to advertise the changes in newspapers.
Mobile phone handset chipsets, which send and receive voice and data, are built based on international standards.
When Qualcomm got its patents folded into the standards it promised to license them on fair, reasonable and non- discriminatory terms.
The KFTC charges say Qualcomm violated South Korean antitrust law by breaking that commitment, harming chipset competition and causing consumers to pay more for handsets, the source said.
The charges have huge significance for Qualcomm. Over the years, Qualcomm has listed South Korea as a key geographic region for revenue because its customers there are among the world's largest producers of mobile phones.
South Korean media estimate Qualcomm's revenue from Korean makers to be be 2.5 trillion won to 3 trillion won ($2 billion-$2.4 billion) ($1=1253.8 Won).
Qualcomm has also been under investigation by the European Commission in Brussels for anti-competitive behavior.
Qualcom closed at $45.28, up 19 cents, and fell to 44.79 in after hours trading, down 1 percent.
(Reporting by David Lawsky, additional reporting by So-eui Rhee in Seoul; editing by Andre Grenon) Keywords: QUALCOMM/KOREA (E-mail david.lawsky@thomsonreuters.com +1 415 677 2505; Reuters Messaging david.lawsky.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.