Chip-maker Broadcom settles with EU in anti-trust case

Executive Vice President of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager holds a news conference on Broadcom in Brussels, on October 7, 2020.(YVES HERMAN / pool / AFP)

The agreement came after the European Commission took the rare move of ordering interim changes from one of Silicon Valley's pioneer companies while the EU investigation was under way, citing "irreparable" threats to competition.

The emergency measure allowed the EU to counter criticisms that it moves too slowly against big tech, with cases running on for years, long after any harm is suffered by competitors.

"Accepting timely and comprehensive commitments ... can be an equally effective way to permit fair competition to the benefits of customers," EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager told reporters.

The fast-tracked settlement "allows us to proceed within less than one year on the basis of a solution that will bring real added value for competition in the chipset markets and for consumers," she added.

Vestager is considered a scourge of US big tech, after launching cases against Google, Amazon and Apple, though her case against the iPhone-maker was annulled by an EU court.

With the interim measures, Vestager had significantly stepped up her scrutiny of US tech giants. Investigations typically drag on for years before companies are fined or ordered into compliance.

A landmark case against Microsoft played out for close to a decade, while a case against Google on its shopping service took seven years to reach the penalty phase.

The investigation of Broadcom was focused on the company's highly popular TV and modem chipsets, devices that offer television and internet access to customers at home or work.

The commission had obtained information that Broadcom might be requiring firms to buy only its components, or granting them rebates and other advantages if they buy in high volume.

The commission also accused Broadcom of bundling products or deliberately undermining the "interoperability" between Broadcom products and other products.

The commission in June 2019 sent a "statement of objections on interim measures" to Broadcom requiring it to swiftly stop such alleged practices.

Broadcom had risked major fines that can technically go as high as 10 percent of annual sales.