Nvidia Accuses Qualcomm of Quashing Its Mobile Ambitions

Nvidia wants Qualcomm to pay up for allegedly quashing its chances in the mobile chipset space.

In documents released by a British court Tuesday, Nvidia Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA) states that Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) exercised an "unlawful abuse of dominance" to crush its mobile chipset business, including its Icera unit, reports Bloomberg.

Nvidia bought Icera for $367 million in 2011 but announced in early May 2015 that it was winding down the operation and seeking a buyer for the wireless unit. (See Nvidia Targets Qualcomm With Icera Buy.)

These are the latest details in a long-running anti-trust complaint in the European Union by Icera/Nvidia. Icera first made its complaint to the European Commission back in June 2010, alleging anti-competitive behavior on Qualcomm's part. (See Eurobites: Qualcomm May Face EU Antitrust Probe.)

Qualcomm continues to be the leading player in the cellular chipset market, holding a six- to 12-month lead over its rivals, according to Strategy Analytics Inc. , despite companies such as MediaTek Inc. (Taiwan: 2454) and Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) trying to grab shares. (See Intel's IoT & 5G Bosses Leaving and Qualcomm Profits Sink on Weak Demand.)

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading