Overview
- The Japan Fair Trade Commission, which announced its decision on July 3, 2026, closed its review of Broadcom’s software transactions after concluding it did not have enough evidence to establish a violation of the Antimonopoly Act.
- Regulators had examined whether Broadcom’s licensing changes reduced customer choice by moving users from selectable software combinations to a single bundled virtualization product.
- As part of the inquiry the JFTC carried out an on-site inspection of VMware’s Japan offices in September 2024 to gather documents and testimony about contract practices.
- Broadcom told the JFTC it will give trading partners sufficient advance notice and negotiate in good faith when contract changes could cause major disadvantages, and the commission formally recorded that commitment.
- The closure ends this formal probe but leaves market watchers focused on whether Broadcom follows its pledge, how cloud providers and customers are affected by bundling, and whether the JFTC will open future reviews if similar complaints reappear.