EU antitrust
authorities opened on Friday an investigation into U.S. smartphone
chipmaker
Qualcomm's (QCOM.O)
$38-billion bid for NXP Semiconductors (NXP.N),
concerned that the merged company may squeeze out rivals and jack up prices.
The combined
entity would also have the ability and the incentive to change NXP's
intellectual property licensing practices, in particular the NFC technology, by
bundling this to Qualcomm's patent portfolio, the European Commission said.
The EU
watchdog also voiced concerns about reduced competition in semiconductors used
in cars.
Reuters
reported on June 2 that Qualcomm, which supplies chips to Android smartphone
makers and Apple (AAPL.P),
may face a lengthy EU investigation after it declined to offer concessions to
address the bloc's concerns in a preliminary review.
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