QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM Quick QuoteQCOM - Free Report) recently announced that it has reached a settlement with the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (“TFTC”) in an anti-trust case for about $93 million to safeguard its patent-licensing business.

The company was debarred from a hostile takeover bid by rival Broadcom Inc. (AVGO Quick QuoteAVGO - Free Report) and was itself forced to abandon the buyout of NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXPI Quick QuoteNXPI - Free Report) amid trade-related hostilities between the United States and China.

The latest development annuls a fine of nearly $778 million imposed by the TFTC in 2017, when it accused the mobile chip maker of refusing to sell chips to mobile handset makers that didn’t agree to its patent-licensing terms. The company was also accused of cutting Apple Inc. (AAPL Quick QuoteAAPL - Free Report) a royalty discount in exchange for the exclusive use of QUALCOMM's modem chips in the past.

QUALCOMM has also agreed to invest $700 million in Taiwan over the next five years. It will have to provide reports every six months to Taiwanese officials for five years to show that it is negotiating in good faith with handset makers in patent-licensing deals.

In addition, the company will drive certain commercial initiatives in Taiwan over the next five years for the benefit of the mobile and semiconductor ecosystem, SMEs and consumers, including 5G collaborations and new market expansion.

QUALCOMM has contributed broadly to the development of Taiwan's mobile and semiconductor industries to achieve shared success in Taiwan and globally for more than two decades. Its significant R&D investments in fundamental mobile technologies and its broad-based licensing of those technologies to mobile phone suppliers have facilitated the explosive growth of the mobile communications industry in Taiwan and worldwide, ultimately benefiting consumers.

The stock has gained 14.3% compared with 4.2% growth for the industry in the past three months.



QUALCOMM currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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