China settlement of antitrust probe may be start of Qualcomm's woes

San Francisco

THE settlement of China's antitrust probe into Qualcomm Inc is likely to intensify global scrutiny of the firm's highly profitable patent licensing business, and may even call into question its worldwide contracts with smartphone makers such as Apple and Samsung.

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is moving to wrap up its 13-month investigation into the US chipmaker as soon as possible, the regulator said on Friday, bringing to an end one of the most high profile of a slew of such investigations by Beijing into Western firms.