However, this Wednesday the European General Court ruled in favor of the chipmaker, due to flaws in the case, specifically a series of procedural irregularities that affected Qualcomm’s defense rights and invalidated the Commission’s analysis of the imputed conduct. against the company.
The court questioned the Commission, saying that while its conclusion was that the payments had reduced Apple’s incentives to switch to competing providers for LTE chipsets, in reality “Apple had no technical alternative to Qualcomm chips for the majority of their requirements during the period in question.”
When the fine was issued, Vestager also said it was a warning to other tech companies considering similar practices. In addition, the body has a pending case since 2019 with the same company, however, the court’s decision represents a serious blow to the EU, which has tried to regulate the technology sector in recent years.
Following the court’s decision, an executive spokesman for the European regulator sent a statement to TechCrunch: “The Commission will carefully study the ruling and its implications and reflect on the next steps.”