The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) previously launched an investigation into Broadcom after the company allegedly forced Samsung Electronics to sign a long-term parts procurement contract with it.
According to Korean media Business Korea, Broadcom was investigated and then proposed a “voluntary correction program” in which they hope to invest 20 billion won over five years for the Korean semiconductor industry.
According to the report, of the 20 billion won, 7.7 billion won will be used for engineer training and 12.3 billion won for new and existing non-large fabless companies. In addition, they will also train 150 students and employees each year for two weeks to two months in semiconductor data collection and analysis, automotive chip design, and for companies to help them enter the industry and build test and verification environments.
Broadcom was investigated because the Korea Fair Trade Commission found Broadcom components in Samsung smartphones released before March last year, but the two companies are not currently doing business together.
The investigation found that the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing company forced other companies to sign a three-year contract for the sale of smartphone components. It also required Samsung Electronics to purchase more than $760 million in components annually, with the remainder to be paid when the amount was not reached.
The commission will decide next month whether to accept the plan. If the KFTC finds its proposal reasonable, the case could be closed without punitive measures.
Image source Unsplash
