China's Antitrust Regulator Says Qualcomm Case To Be Settled Soon

QualcommLogo_Nov2014 — The Snapdragon 820 from Qualcomm is reported to be 50% more powerful than the chipset seen in Samsung Galaxy S6. The S820 will apparently be manufactured by 14nm FinFET process and it will support Cat 10 LTE. Pictured above: A Qualcomm sign is pictured in front of one of its many buildings in San Diego, California on Nov. 5, 2014. Reuters/Mike Blake

(Reuters) - The Chinese government said on Friday that it will soon settle its antitrust investigation of U.S. mobile chipmaker Qualcomm Inc.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's anti-monopoly regulator that launched its probe of the San Diego-based company 13 months ago, said the case would be settled according to the law, according to an online statement.

The notice cited Xu Kunlin, director general of NDRC's anti-monopoly bureau.

The NDRC also said it had completed its seventh round of discussions with Qualcomm Chief Executive Officer Derek Aberle and his team earlier this month.

The regulator said in February that the U.S. chipmaker was suspected of overcharging and abusing its market position in wireless communication standards.

An imminent decision in the case is expected to force the company to pay fines potentially exceeding $1 billion and require concessions that would hurt its highly profitable business of charging licensing fees on phone chipsets that use its patents.

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