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Microsoft Wins EU Antitrust Approval for Activision Deal Vetoed by UK

The Activision Blizzard Booth is shown on June 13, 2013, during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. (AP)
The Activision Blizzard Booth is shown on June 13, 2013, during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. (AP)
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Microsoft Wins EU Antitrust Approval for Activision Deal Vetoed by UK

The Activision Blizzard Booth is shown on June 13, 2013, during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. (AP)
The Activision Blizzard Booth is shown on June 13, 2013, during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. (AP)

Microsoft Corp gained EU antitrust approval for its $69 billion acquisition of Activision on Monday, in a significant boost that could prompt Chinese and Korean regulators to follow suit despite a British veto of the deal.

The US software giant still faces a battle to clinch a deal. It has until May 24 to appeal a decision by Britain's Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) to block it. A final decision may take months. The US Federal Trade Commission's case against the deal is also pending at the agency.

The European Commission said that the biggest-ever deal in gaming was pro-competitive due to Microsoft's licensing deals, confirming a Reuters report in March.

Such licenses are "practical and effective", European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager told reporters.

"Actually, they significantly improve the condition for cloud game streaming compared to the present situation, which is why we actually consider them pro-competitive," she added.

The EU watchdog said Microsoft has offered 10-year free licensing deals to European consumers and cloud game streaming services for Activision's PC and console games.

Microsoft has in recent months signed such deals with Nvidia, Nintendo, Ukraine's Boosteroid and Japan's Ubitus to bring Activision's Call of Duty to their gaming platforms should the deal go through.

"The European Commission has required Microsoft to license popular Activision Blizzard games automatically to competing cloud gaming services. This will apply globally and will empower millions of consumers worldwide to play these games on any device they choose," said Microsoft President Brad Smith.

Vestager said the Commission has a different assessment of how the cloud gaming market will grow in contrast with the UK.

"They see this market developing faster than we would think," she said. "There is a bit of a paradox here, because we think that the remedies that we have taken and will allow for licensing to many, many more in the cloud gaming markets."

The UK Competition and Markets Authority said it stood by its veto. Microsoft will appeal to the Competition Appeal Tribunal, with a decision expected to take months.

The other remaining big hurdle is the US Federal Trade Commission which is seeking to block it. Japan approved the takeover in March.

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Samsung Says Trade Turmoil Raises Chip Business Volatilities, May Hit Phone Demand

A man walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
A man walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
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Samsung Says Trade Turmoil Raises Chip Business Volatilities, May Hit Phone Demand

A man walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
A man walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics displayed outside the company's Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics warned on Wednesday US tariffs could cut demand for products such as smartphones, making it difficult to predict future performance.
According to Reuters, Samsung said it expected its semiconductor business to encounter greater uncertainties throughout the year, while its smartphone shipments faced downward pressure in the second quarter.
The cautious outlook from one of the world's biggest electronics manufacturers reflects the uncertainties roiling global trade due to US President Donald Trump's tariff war, and comes a day after General Motors pulled its annual forecast.
The world's largest memory chipmaker reported a small rise in first-quarter operating profit as customers concerned about US tariffs rushed to purchase smartphones and commodity chips, mitigating the impact of its underperforming artificial intelligence chip business.
It reported 6.7 trillion won ($4.68 billion) in operating profit for the quarter ended in March, up 1.2% from a year earlier and in line with its earlier estimate.
Samsung shares, one of the worst-performing major tech stocks last year, fell 0.4% in line with the broader market.
Steep US tariffs on Chinese goods and toughening restrictions on AI chip sales to China, Samsung's top market, threaten to dampen demand for some of the electronics components the company produces such as chips and smartphone displays.
Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs, most of which have been suspended until July, threaten to hit dozens of countries including Vietnam and South Korea where Samsung produces smartphones and displays.
Samsung said it was considering relocating the production of TVs and home appliances in response to the tariffs.
Chip demand is expected to remain solid in the second quarter, driven by AI servers and preemptive purchasing activities after the pause in tariffs, Samsung said.
But it warned that the frontloading of chip shipments by some customers may have a negative impact on demand later this year.
“We believe that demand uncertainties are growing in the second half as a result of recent changes in tariff policies in major countries, and strengthening of AI chip export controls,” Kim Jae-june, a Samsung vice president in the memory division, said on an earnings call.
Samsung CFO Park Soon-cheol said however that "we cautiously expect the overall performance to gradually improve as we move into the second half, assuming the easing of current uncertainties".
Some analysts were unconvinced, saying the company did not give detailed guidance for its struggling AI chip business.
"With pull-in demand still ongoing and macro uncertainty lingering, the explanation for the 'first-half low, second-half rebound' outlook was lacking," Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities said.
AI CHIPS
Samsung's mobile device and network business reported a 23% rise in profit to 4.3 trillion won during the period, reaching its highest level in four years, helped by the latest version of the flagship Galaxy S model with AI features.
Samsung has accelerated smartphone production in Vietnam, India and South Korea ahead of the US duties, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier.
While mobile performed strongly, the chip division's operating profit slumped 42% to 1.1 trillion won from a year earlier despite chip stockpiling by some customers.
Samsung reported a fall in sales of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) - used in AI processors - due in part to US export controls on AI chips.
Samsung said it had supplied samples of its enhanced HBM3E products to major customers and expected HBM sales, which have bottomed out in the first quarter, to "gradually" rise from the second quarter, without offering detailed targets.
Analysts estimate that about one third of Samsung's HBM revenue has come from China, and it lags behind cross-town rival SK Hynix in supplying such chips to Nvidia in the United States.
SK Hynix last week logged its second-highest quarterly operating profit in the first quarter with a 158% jump to 7.4 trillion won, boosted by strong AI-related demand.
Revenue rose 10% to 79.1 trillion won in the January-to-March period, in line with its earlier estimate of 79 trillion won.