Qualcomm accused of forcing deal on Apple to fend off rivals

San Francisco

QUALCOMM Inc forced Apple Inc to use its chips exclusively in return for lower licensing fees, unfairly cutting out competitors, the US said in a lawsuit against the biggest maker of mobile phone chips.

Qualcomm's exclusive deal with Apple was detailed in a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit accusing the chipmaker of illegally maintaining a monopoly for semiconductors used in mobile phones and pocketing elevated royalties from customers.