Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm Join Hands to Combat Broadcom Monopoly

According to South Korean media BusinessKorea, Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm will jointly fight against Broadcom in the antitrust dispute.
Qualcomm was fined 1 trillion Korean won (approximately 755 million US dollars) for overcharging Samsung Electronics for patent usage fees, and this time Qualcomm will support Samsung Electronics. The reason why the two companies agreed to join forces this time is because they were both affected by the long-term exclusive agreement that Broadcom requested to sign.

According to the South Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) and industry sources, Qualcomm representatives will attend the KFTC plenary meeting on Broadcom in June. Qualcomm has expressed its willingness to support Samsung Electronics, “said a KFTC official.
The reason why Botong was investigated by KFTC is accused of forcing Samsung Electronics to sign a three-year smart device component agreement, including front-end circuits, Wi Fi, and Bluetooth components.
Last year, as the investigation approached its end, Broadcom submitted a “self correction measure” solution, providing a win-win fund of 20 billion Korean won ($15 million) to companies damaged by Broadcom. The KFTC plenary meeting will decide whether to ultimately accept or reject the proposal from Broadcom. If the plan is ultimately accepted, the case will be closed and Broadcom will avoid legal sanctions.
However, Samsung Electronics opposes this solution and believes that a win-win fund of 20 billion won is far from sufficient to compensate for the actual losses it has caused. It demands that Broadcom promise to compensate for the huge losses or impose substantive sanctions on Broadcom.
Qualcomm will participate in the plenary meeting of the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) next month to support Samsung Electronics. Yesterday’s enemies become today’s friends. According to reports, Qualcomm, not Samsung Electronics, was the first to report the abuse of power by Broadcom to KFTC. Although Qualcomm claims that the long-term contract signed between Broadcom and Samsung Electronics has prevented Qualcomm from selling products to Samsung Electronics, Qualcomm also has reason to seek a counterattack against Broadcom. Broadcom has previously reported Qualcomm to KFTC. In 2009, Qualcomm was fined over 200 billion Korean won (151 million US dollars). Additionally, in 2017, Broadcom attempted to acquire Qualcomm, but failed due to opposition from the US authorities.