Slapped wrists at Broadcom as FTC approves order against 'anticompetitive' conduct
(2021/11/05)
- Reference: 1636137012
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/11/05/broadcom_ftc/
- Source link:
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a [1]final order intended to curb Broadcom's "anticompetitive conduct."
The order prohibits the Californian semiconductor company from entering into "certain types" of exclusivity or loyalty agreements with customers regarding the supply of silicon for "devices that deliver television and broadband internet services." It also prohibits Broadcom from retaliating against customers who go elsewhere for their chip needs.
[2]In June , a complaint issued by the FTC charged the company with "illegally monopolizing markets for semiconductor components." Broadcom's agreements, according to the FTC, "created insurmountable barriers for companies trying to compete."
[3]
Broadcom agreed to settle in [4]July . Its dealings have also come under scrutiny in the EU, with the European Commission in October 2020 eventually accepting [5]commitments from the company that it would "suspend all existing agreements containing exclusivity or quasi-exclusivity arrangements and/or leveraging provisions concerning Systems-on-a-Chip ('SoCs') for TV set-top boxes and Internet modems, and has committed not to enter into new agreements comprising such terms."
[6]
An attempt by Broadcom to purchase Qualcomm infamously [7]ended in tears in 2018, although it later consoled itself by picking up CA Technologies. Something we described as the " [8]Weirdest. Acquisition. Ever. " Because, quite frankly, it was.
[9]Fibre Channel is still around. And now it's end-to-end at a sizzling-ish 64Gbit/s
[10]Seasonality goes out the window as Apple iPhone delays dent Broadcom's wireless chip sales in Q3
[11]Stinker, emailer, trawler, spy: How an engineer stole top US chip designs, smuggled them to China to set up a rival fab
[12]Caltech to Apple, Broadcom: You know that $1.1bn you owe for ripping off Wi-Fi patents? Double it, hotshots
More recently, the company found itself in [13]hot water over Wi-Fi patents held by The California Institute of Technology. Never enrage a boffin – or their lawyers.
Broadcom did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the FTC's final order. It was probably too busy polishing the [14]Customer of the Year award it picked up from Google Cloud last month.
In September, the company [15]reported a 16 per cent increase in revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2021. Net revenue stood at $6.8bn, of which its "semiconductor solutions" segment accounted for $5bn (itself up by 19 per cent on a year ago). ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/11/ftc-approves-final-order-requiring-semiconductor-supplier
[2] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/07/ftc-charges-broadcom-illegal-monopolization-orders-semiconductor
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YYlXxS9SEnPyd06fHnRXXgAAAAY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/us-ftc-files-proposed-settlement-with-broadcom-2021-07-02/
[5] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_1852
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YYlXxS9SEnPyd06fHnRXXgAAAAY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/14/broadcoms_bid_for_qualcomm_ends_in_tears/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2018/07/12/broadcom_ca_technologies/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/12/broadcom_fibre_channel_hba/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/04/broadcom_q3_2020/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/30/avago_spying_guilty/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/04/apple_broadcom_caltech/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/04/apple_broadcom_caltech/
[14] https://investors.broadcom.com/news-releases/news-release-details/broadcom-awarded-customer-year-google-cloud
[15] https://investors.broadcom.com/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The order prohibits the Californian semiconductor company from entering into "certain types" of exclusivity or loyalty agreements with customers regarding the supply of silicon for "devices that deliver television and broadband internet services." It also prohibits Broadcom from retaliating against customers who go elsewhere for their chip needs.
[2]In June , a complaint issued by the FTC charged the company with "illegally monopolizing markets for semiconductor components." Broadcom's agreements, according to the FTC, "created insurmountable barriers for companies trying to compete."
[3]
Broadcom agreed to settle in [4]July . Its dealings have also come under scrutiny in the EU, with the European Commission in October 2020 eventually accepting [5]commitments from the company that it would "suspend all existing agreements containing exclusivity or quasi-exclusivity arrangements and/or leveraging provisions concerning Systems-on-a-Chip ('SoCs') for TV set-top boxes and Internet modems, and has committed not to enter into new agreements comprising such terms."
[6]
An attempt by Broadcom to purchase Qualcomm infamously [7]ended in tears in 2018, although it later consoled itself by picking up CA Technologies. Something we described as the " [8]Weirdest. Acquisition. Ever. " Because, quite frankly, it was.
[9]Fibre Channel is still around. And now it's end-to-end at a sizzling-ish 64Gbit/s
[10]Seasonality goes out the window as Apple iPhone delays dent Broadcom's wireless chip sales in Q3
[11]Stinker, emailer, trawler, spy: How an engineer stole top US chip designs, smuggled them to China to set up a rival fab
[12]Caltech to Apple, Broadcom: You know that $1.1bn you owe for ripping off Wi-Fi patents? Double it, hotshots
More recently, the company found itself in [13]hot water over Wi-Fi patents held by The California Institute of Technology. Never enrage a boffin – or their lawyers.
Broadcom did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the FTC's final order. It was probably too busy polishing the [14]Customer of the Year award it picked up from Google Cloud last month.
In September, the company [15]reported a 16 per cent increase in revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2021. Net revenue stood at $6.8bn, of which its "semiconductor solutions" segment accounted for $5bn (itself up by 19 per cent on a year ago). ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/11/ftc-approves-final-order-requiring-semiconductor-supplier
[2] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/07/ftc-charges-broadcom-illegal-monopolization-orders-semiconductor
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YYlXxS9SEnPyd06fHnRXXgAAAAY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/us-ftc-files-proposed-settlement-with-broadcom-2021-07-02/
[5] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_1852
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YYlXxS9SEnPyd06fHnRXXgAAAAY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/14/broadcoms_bid_for_qualcomm_ends_in_tears/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2018/07/12/broadcom_ca_technologies/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/12/broadcom_fibre_channel_hba/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/04/broadcom_q3_2020/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/30/avago_spying_guilty/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/04/apple_broadcom_caltech/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/04/apple_broadcom_caltech/
[14] https://investors.broadcom.com/news-releases/news-release-details/broadcom-awarded-customer-year-google-cloud
[15] https://investors.broadcom.com/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Settled in 1 month!?
W.S.Gosset
I had to read that twice. That's unheard of. They must have been somewhere between Bang-to-Rights and Done-Like-A-Dinner, in legal terms.
When......
JWLong
.....are corporations going to stop the bean counters and ambulance chasers getting them into hot water over shit like this so they can further their billing amounts.
And, it seems FTC didn't restrict them from continuing to make the same old deals with cell phone makers.
Broadcom's agreements, according to the FTC, "created insurmountable barriers for companies trying to compete."
didn't Taiwan's drought (and the consequent lack of semiconductor chips) already do that?