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Nearly thirty million individuals in the Britain who bought an Apple Inc. or Samsung Electronics smartphone between 2015 and 2024 may be eligible to around seventeen pounds per person should a buyer watchdog prevails in its case against the US corporation Qualcomm Inc..

Legal Action Starts This Week

The campaign is taking the tech giant to the specialized court in London this week.

The legal proceedings involving the watchdog and the chipmaker is anticipated to continue for over a month.

The organization is accusing the chip company of unfair competition.

The group asserts that the firm forced Apple & Samsung to pay excessive costs and royalty payments for essential handset components, which then raised the price of those mobile phones for consumers.

What the Case Will Examine

The case commencing on Monday will look into whether Qualcomm held dominance and, should that be the case, whether it exploited a dominant position.

In the event that the watchdog is successful, there will be a subsequent step aiming to obtain £480 million from the tech firm, to be divided between an projected 29 million UK consumers involved.

The consumer group is claiming compensation for all impacted Apple Inc. & Samsung Electronics mobile phones purchased between 1 October 2015 and early January 2024.

The group states this would likely amount at around seventeen pounds each.

Past Cases and The Firm's Response

The chipmaker has previously claimed the case has "little merit".

A parallel case against Qualcomm is ongoing in Canada, and the company has also in the past been sanctioned by the European Union for antitrust breaches.

The Federal Trade Commission in the US sued the corporation for restrictive tactics in the way it authorized use of its innovations back in 2017, but had its case thrown out in 2020.

Importance of the Case

The chief executive of the consumer group remarked: "This case is a significant event. It illustrates how the power of consumers - represented by us - can be used to make the major firms to answer when they abuse their leading role."

Qualcomm is one of the leading producers of mobile processors and has been subject to claims about anti-competitive behaviour previously.

• Eligible handsets include Apple and Samsung products bought between 2015 and 2024.
• The claimed amount demanded is £480m.
• Per-person payout is projected to be approximately 17 pounds.
• The trial is being held at the specialist court in the UK capital.