“Qualcomm doesn’t intend to take Apple’s legal action lying down, but neither does it plan to stop doing business with the iPhone maker,” Ina Fried reports for Recode.
“Apple hit Qualcomm with a $1 billion lawsuit on Friday, saying the chipmaker had improperly withheld rebates in retaliation for Apple’s complaints to regulatory authorities in the U.S. and elsewhere,” Fried reports. “Apple’s suit followed a separate antitrust complaint earlier in the week from the Federal Trade Commission.”
“Sources close to Qualcomm say the company is considering filing its own lawsuits in response, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere, as well as trying to get Apple’s case dismissed,” Fried reports. “One thing Qualcomm doesn’t plan to do, though, is to stop supplying modem chips to the iPhone maker.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Of course, they want to do business with the only smartphone maker who reaps all of the industry’s profits.
Regardless, Qualcomm’s FRAND abuse must end.
SEE ALSO:
Why Apple, the FTC, and others are attacking Qualcomm’s royalty model – January 24, 2017
Here are the most damning parts of Apple’s blockbuster lawsuit against Qualcomm – January 23, 2017
Apple’s legal assault on Qualcomm part of iPhone margin grab – January 23, 2017
Qualcomm says Apple’s claims are ‘baseless’ in response to Cupertino’s $1 billion lawsuit – January 21, 2017
Apple sues Qualcomm for $1 billion over onerous licensing practices – January 20, 2017
Qualcomm exec says FTC ‘rushed’ antitrust lawsuit before President-elect Trump’s inauguration – January 19, 2017
FTC alleges Qualcomm forced Apple into iPhone LTE chip deals – January 18, 2017
FTC charges Qualcomm with monopolizing key smartphone chip; alleges extracted exclusivity from Apple in exchange for reduced patent royalties – January 17, 2017
After eating Intel’s mobile lunch, Apple could next devour Qualcomm’s Baseband Processor business – January 20, 2015
Analyst: Apple’s going to dump Intel modems if they keep lagging Qualcomm – December 5, 2016
Yes, Apple is throttling download speeds for iPhone 7 and 7 Plus Verizon and Sprint versions – November 19, 2016
Apple’s modem choices may leave Verizon iPhone users feeling throttled – November 18, 2016
Tests show iPhone 7 Plus models with Qualcomm modem perform significantly better than those with Intel modem – October 20, 2016
“MacDailyNews Take: Of course, they want to do business with the only smartphone maker who reaps all of the industry’s profits.”
Sorry, MDN, but that’s ridiculous! Qualcomm will do business with ANYONE- they could care less whether their customers make a profit or not. The only important fact is that Qualcomm make a profit.
Think about this: in most of the world, Android has (on average) 80% of the market (I’m excluding the US here). So if Qualcomm were to lose 20% and still sell to the 80% (who aren’t making a profit but Qualcomm doesn’t care), their revenue only dips 20%. If Apple wins and they have to lower their fees, that will carry across 100% of their customers. It might actually be more profitable to cut out Apple and retain higher margins on Android.
Of course, I VERY much hope Apple wins this case against Qualcomm. I think they are abusing FRAND. But I’m not so sure that Qualcomm needs Apple more than Apple needs those chips…
You nailed it, macman! That is exactly what I was going to say. Qualcomm certainly wants to be Apple’s main/exclusive supplier, but Qualcomm sells chipsets to all of the phone manufacturers, whether or not they make a profit. Besides, Apple and Qualcomm undoubtedly have a component supplier contract in place that likely extends for a couple of years or more with options. If either company unilaterally backs out, then that is an entirely different lawsuit.
I think that it is interesting that Apple began using Intel chipsets in some of its new iPhone models before filing the lawsuit. Apple management is not as clueless as some on this forum would like everyone to believe.
I’m not sure the Intel chip is making Qualcomm quake since by various articles seems to be inferior forcing Apple to throttle Qualcomm chip modem speeds to match. In the worst case Apple goes all Intel while everyone else continues to use Qualcomm’s faster modem chips. Neither Intel or Qualcomm will sit still so it’s a race now to see who can be the fastest and most cost effective for the OEMs.
The plot thickens as to why Intel chips are now in some iPhone 7 models
The plot does not thicken. Apple ensured the availability of an alternate chipset supplier before filing the lawsuit. If the situation with Qualcomm tanks then at least Apple has an option in hand.
Quite right. Apple wants an alternative, even if it means a slightly worse chip that they have to throttle the Qualcomm chip to match or risk having differences in UX between the two models of iPhone7.