South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission is investigating Qualcomm, adding to more antitrust woes for the US chipmaker.
The outfit had a record fine it agreed to pay in China, and claimed that other antitrust authorities would see its actions differently.
South Korea’s Maeil Business newspaper, without citing direct sources, reported that the commission will look into whether Qualcomm is abusing its dominant market position.
As part of its investigation, the commission plans to send inquiries to domestic smartphone makers such as Samsung and Intel.
Qualcomm is also dealing with antitrust probes in Europe and the United States. In their investigation of Qualcomm, Chinese antitrust officials had met with their South Korean counterparts.
In 2009, South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission fined Qualcomm more than $200 million for abusing its dominant market position, so it will be especially interested because the outfit has previous form.
