EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, pictured, said: “With this investigation, we want to ensure that consumers will continue to benefit from secure and innovative products at competitive prices."
The Commission's initial investigation is said to have raised several issues, including that the merged company would hold strong positions in the baseband chipset market, as well as in NFC and devices for so called ‘secure elements’. The EC is also concerned that a merger would remove competition in automotive semiconductors; in particular for V2X technology.
A further area of investigation is into whether NXP’s current IP licensing practices might be affected by bundling NFC IP into Qualcomm’s patent portfolio.
The EC now has until 17 October to reach a decision.
