Qualcomm Antitrust: EU Fines Chip Maker $1.2 Billion For Deals With Apple

American-based computer and smartphone chip maker Qualcomm was fined $1.2 billion Wednesday by the European Union for violating antitrust regulations in a series of deals the company cut with Apple.

According to the EU , Qualcomm paid Apple billions of dollars between 2011 and 2016 for an exclusive arrangement to provide LTE modems to the iPhone maker, which shut out other companies from providing parts for Apple devices.

“Qualcomm illegally shut out rivals from the market for LTE baseband chipsets for over five years, thereby cementing its market dominance,” European Union commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. “Qualcomm paid billions of US Dollars to a key customer, Apple, so that it would not buy from rivals.”

At the time of the agreement between the companies, Apple was reportedly exploring making a switch to cellular modems made by Intel but decided to stick with Qualcomm after the company proposed the deal.

After the agreement lapsed in 2016, Apple did move on to Intel modems. Starting with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, iPhones now include LTE modems from Intel rather than Qualcomm. Despite the company’s interest in making the switch earlier, Vestager said “it would have cost Apple a lot of money” to get out of the arrangement with Qualcomm.

The EU commissioner argued that Qualcomm’s behavior effectively blocked out competition and “denied customers and other companies more choice and innovation.” The agreement was considered particularly harmful as it placed limitations on a sector “with a huge demand and potential for innovative technologies.”

Qualcomm’s actions were deemed to be illegal by EU under its antitrust laws. As a result, the chip maker was hit with a $1.2 billion fine—the third largest antitrust fine ever handed down by the commission.

The lone instances in which higher fines have been levied includes a $3.6 billion sanction against major automakers for colluding on pricing and a $1.67 billion fine against car glass producers for price fixing.

Qualcomm intends to appeal the sanctions, which it may want to do quickly because the EU is already eyeing the possibility of issuing a second fine against the company for selling modems to Nvidia at below cost from 2009 to 2011 in order to exclude competitors.

In addition to the battle with the EU, Qualcomm is stuck in a number of legal fights that has the company fighting on every front. Last Apple and Qualcomm began a legal squabble that has turned into a massive court battle.

Apple filed a lawsuit against the chip maker claiming Qualcomm had been overcharging for use of its patents. In response, Qualcomm accused Apple of violating its patents and asked for sales of the iPhone to be banned in the United States . Apple countered by filing its own patent infringement lawsuit against Qualcomm and calling the company a “common patent troll.”