San Diego-based Qualcomm, a major supplier of mobile phone chips, previously paid a US$975-million fine to resolve a Chinese antitrust case.Reuters
China has launched an antitrust investigation into U.S. semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm QCOM-Q over its acquisition of Israel’s Autotalks, China’s market regulator said on Friday.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said the probe would look at whether Qualcomm violated China’s antitrust law by not lawfully declaring some details in its acquisition of the Israeli chip designer.
Qualcomm’s shares were down 2.8 per cent in premarket trading.
San Diego-based Qualcomm said in June it had finalized the deal for Autotalks, which makes communications chips to help prevent car crashes, without disclosing the size, or how it had resolved earlier sticking points.
Qualcomm had said in 2024 it would drop the bid for Autotalks after it failed to get regulatory approvals in a timely manner.
OpenAI eyes artificial intelligence data-centre capacity in Canada
Qualcomm did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Chinese probe.
In 2015, the major supplier of mobile phone chips paid a US$975-million fine to resolve a Chinese antitrust case.
The latest investigation comes after Beijing last month accused U.S. AI chip maker Nvidia of violating China’s anti-monopoly law.
Both probes could heighten tensions between China and the U.S. at a time when they appear to be struggling to move beyond a trade tariff truce.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to meet when they attend an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea at the end of this month.