Qualcomm expresses disappointment with EU's decision to continue investigation

US chipmaker Qualcomm on 19 July expressed disappointment with EU antitrust regulators’ decision to continue an investigation in a case where it has been accused of charging below-cost prices to stymy British phone software maker Icera.“While the investigation has been narrowed, we are disappointed to see it continues and will immediately begin preparing our response to this supplementary statement of objections,” Qualcomm general counsel Don Rosenberg said in a statement.“We believe that once the Commission has reviewed our response it will find that Qualcomm’s practices are pro-competitive and fully consistent with European competition rules,” he said.[caption id="attachment_4606961" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

Visitors walk past the Qualcomm stand at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Image: Reuters[/caption]Earlier on Thursday, the European Commission charged the world’s No. 1 chipmaker with a new violation.The move came as US President Donald Trump slammed a $5 billion fine against Google, saying the European Union was taking advantage of the United States.The chipmaker has been in the EU crosshairs since 2015 when it was charged with predatory pricing aimed at forcing out British phone software maker Icera between 2009 and 2011. Icera was later acquired by Nvidia Corp.Qualcomm was fined 997 million euros in a separate case in January after the European Commission said it breached EU rules by paying iPhone Apple to use only its chips in an effort to block rivals such as Intel.