Court rejects Broadcom's challenge
The court dismissed the appeal on Oct. 27, 2026, making the Korea Fair Trade Commission's fine of 18.664 billion won and corrective order final. The Korea Herald and Seoul Economic Daily reported the dismissal on Nov. 2, citing legal sources. Broadcom's US headquarters, its Korean unit and two other affiliates brought the appeal.
Broadcom had disputed that it was the stronger party in its dealings with Samsung. According to Financial News (fnnews), the Supreme Court rejected that argument and three others concerning whether the contract disadvantaged Samsung, whether Broadcom's conduct was improper and whether the sales figure used to calculate the fine was appropriate.
The court found that Samsung could virtually not replace Broadcom's components: its products and production lines had been designed around them, and it depended on Broadcom for firmware and technical support. Samsung also held only two to four weeks of inventory, compared with a wait of at least 12 weeks for new component orders.
Purchase commitments and pressure on Samsung
Samsung signed the agreement in March 2020, committing to annual purchases of at least $760 million for three years beginning in 2021. The commitment covered radio-frequency front-end (RFFE) components, Wi-Fi chips and Bluetooth chips. If purchases fell below that minimum, Samsung had to pay Broadcom for the shortfall.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission said Broadcom secured the agreement by withholding purchase-order approvals and stopping component shipments, production and technical support.
The regulator put Samsung's losses from restrictions on choosing rival components at no less than $160 million. Samsung's own claim was larger: total damages of $326.3 million, or about 437.5 billion won.
Complaint and rejected remedy
A complaint filed in 2021 by Broadcom competitor Qualcomm prompted the case, according to Korea JoongAng Daily. The disputed supply agreement ended in August that year.
In January 2023, while the investigation was underway, Broadcom offered a voluntary remedy that included a 20 billion won ($15 million) funding project for local technology companies and technical and quality-assurance assistance for Samsung. The commission rejected the proposal in June 2023.
