China says Qualcomm admits failing to report Autotalks acquisition, antitrust probe threat looms over chipmaker
China’s State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) announced on Sunday, October 12, 2025, that US-based chip manufacturer Qualcomm admitted that it did not inform Chinese authorities when it completed its acquisition of Israel-based connected vehicle technology provider Autotalks. Reuters report.
When a major global semiconductor company merges with or acquires another company, the Chinese market regulator must approve the transaction. This jurisdiction is granted to China’s SAMR for companies doing significant business in China.
Qualcomm supplies its chips to many Chinese smartphone manufacturers, including Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus.
According to the agency report, SAMR was not notified of the acquisition of Autotalks in June 2025 despite the regulator’s instruction that the deal required approval. The company also allegedly informed the Chinese market regulator that it would no longer pursue the deal.
Qualcomm “admitted the facts” based on China’s launch of an antitrust investigation against the chip maker. The US-based company did not respond to questions sent by the news agency.
Antitrust investigation by China against Qualcomm
China’s State Administration of Market Regulation opened an antitrust investigation against Qualcomm on Friday, October 10, 2025, to review its acquisition of connected vehicle technology provider Autotalks, which was completed in June 2025.
According to the agency’s report BloombergThe market regulator also said it would investigate possible violations of the country’s anti-monopoly law in relation to the transaction.
This comes ahead of US President Donald Trump’s meeting with China’s Xi Jinping, who is trying to potentially negotiate a trade deal ahead of the US-China trade deadline.
Apart from Qualcomm, China is also reportedly exploring Nvidia’s acquisition of networking hardware maker Mellanox. This occurred before investigations into Qualcomm began; because officials from both countries were discussing wide-ranging negotiations in Madrid a month ago.
Qualcomm shares closed at $153.59 after Friday’s Wall Street session, down 7.29% from $141.52 at the previous stock market close, according to Marketwatch data. Shares of the chipmaking giant closed at $154.40, up 0.53% in the closing session on Nasdaq.
According to market data, Qualcomm shares reached a 52-week high of $182.10 and a 52-week low of $120.80. The market value (M-Cap) of the company is at 165.72 billion dollars.
