Intel, Samsung gang up on Qualcomm to back FTC monopoly suit

Bloomberg

Samsung Electronics Co. and Intel Corp. weighed in with their own gripes about Qualcomm Inc. while cheering on the US Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit accusing the chipmaker of trying to corner the market for semiconductors used in smartphones.
The South Korean company, one of Qualcomm’s largest customers, and Intel, one of its biggest competitors, filed arguments in support of the FTC’s case against Qualcomm. Both contend the San Diego-based company stops them from competing fairly against it by leveraging patents that cover the fundamentals of modern phone systems.
“Intel is ready, willing, and able to compete on the merits in this market that Qualcomm has dominated for years,” Intel said in a posting on its website. “But Qualcomm has maintained an interlocking web of abusive patent and commercial practices that subverts competition on the merits.” Samsung claims its in-house chip unit is artificially held back by Qualcomm’s unwillingness to license its technology.
“Despite having requested a license from Qualcomm, Samsung cannot sell licensed Exynos chipsets to non-Samsung entities because Qualcomm has refused to license Samsung to make and sell licensed chipsets,” Samsung said in a filing. Samsung, the world’s biggest smartphone maker, uses a mixture of suppliers — including itself and Qualcomm — for the crucial components in its handsets.
Qualcomm didn’t immediately respond to requests seeking comment on the filings. The company is trying to fend off a series of legal and regulatory challenges to its business practices around the world, including a suit by Apple Inc., one of its largest customers. The chipmaker gets most of its profits from selling the rights to use patents that are essential to all modern mobile phone systems. Many of the cases target the link between those license fees and its semiconductor business. Earlier FTC urged a judge to reject Qualcomm’s request for dismissal of the agency’s case. The allegations “present a forceful antitrust case,” the commission said in a filing in federal court in San Jose, California. A hearing is set for June 15.