Qualcomm's New Antitrust Soup (QCOM, BRCM, NOK)

Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) is back in the soup after disclosing a new antitrust investigation by the European Commission.  The company noted that this is at a very preliminary stage and that it is reviewing the allegations after the Commission received a complaint against Qualcomm from U.K.-based wireless chip maker Icera.

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), and others had claimed that Qualcomm wanted too much in patent licensing and royalty fees and that its business practices prevented other companies from entering the mobile chip market.  Those complaints were ultimately settled, but patent cases in mobile chips and technology seem endless.

Qualcomm said the inquiry is another issue on a long road of patent fighting and control for market standards. The Commission recently ended a multi-year antitrust probe of the company for monopoly abuse.  Qualcomm also noted that this new complaint seems similar to the past allegations.

Icera’s soft modem technology is currently used in PC dongles.  It is unclear if 4G will make it a standard yet or not.  This is not the first antitrust investigation, nor will it be the last.  The CDMA-GSM war is one that will be with us for years.

Qualcomm shares are up 0.5% at $35.25 on what is looking to be a light volume day.

JON C. OGG