China opens antitrust probe into Qualcomm over its Autotalks deal

Adds Qualcomm shares fall 2.8% in premarket trading

BEIJING, Oct 10 (Reuters) - China has launched an antitrust investigation into U.S. semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm QCOM.O over its acquisition of Israel's Autotalks, China's market regulator said on Friday.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation said the probe would look at whether Qualcomm violated China's antitrust law by not lawfully declaring some details in its acquisition of the Israeli chip designer.

Qualcomm's shares were down 2.8% in premarket trading.

CHINA, US TRADE TENSIONS

San Diego-based Qualcomm said in June it had finalised the deal for Autotalks, which makes communications chips to help prevent car crashes, without disclosing the size, or how it had resolved earlier sticking points.

Qualcomm had said in 2024 it would drop the bid for Autotalks after it failed to get regulatory approvals in a timely manner.

Qualcomm did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Chinese probe.

In 2015, the major supplier of mobile phone chips paid a $975 million fine to resolve a Chinese antitrust case.

The latest investigation comes after Beijing last month accused U.S. AI chip maker Nvidia of violating China's anti-monopoly law.

Both probes could heighten tensions between China and the U.S. at a time when they appear to be struggling to move beyond a trade tariff truce.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to meet when they attend an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea at the end of this month.

(Reporting by Liz Lee, Brenda Goh and Beijing newsroom. Editing by Jane Merriman and Mark Potter)

((liz.lee@thomsonreuters.com;))