Jacobs: Qualcomm becoming ‘very much of a law firm’

WASHINGTON-Qualcomm Inc. Chairman Irwin Jacobs said he believes the San Diego-based CDMA technology firm is entering a new phase of heightened regulatory and antitrust scrutiny around the world.
Jacobs, speaking at a conference at George Mason University Law School, said Qualcomm has overcome major challenges in getting CDMA technology accepted, particularly in the European Union, only to face new obstacles.
“There are several companies that used to say CDMA would not work but suddenly switched over to call us a monopoly because of the fact that we have a lot of the intellectual property rights, so they made a complaint to the EU,” said Jacobs, adding: “We’re not the largest chip supplier of CDMA.”
Jacobs, who said he disagrees with the monopoly tag, acknowledged that probes in the EU and Asia have forced Qualcomm into a new operating mode.
“I think the issues are switching to the kind of regulatory and antitrust issues” that Qualcomm did not have to deal with during its evolution from a research and development company to a hardware manufacturer to its present iteration as a major wireless chipmaker and software vendor, said Jacobs.
He added: “Now I think we’ve become very much of a law firm.”
Jacobs said he believes the new regulatory and antitrust issues are going to follow Qualcomm well into the future.
Last week, Qualcomm said it has been notified by the Japan Fair Trade Commission that the agency may investigate its licensing and chip business practices in Japan. The JFTC didn’t disclose any specific complaint, Qualcomm said, or reveal the timing of any potential investigation.
Notice of a potential Japanese government probe follows the EU investigation into “anti-competitive conduct” accusations by a half-dozen companies against Qualcomm. Korean regulators also raided the company’s offices earlier this year in response to similar complaints.