Apple’s chief operating officer, Jeff Williams, in one of its statements in court testified that they originally wanted to use Qualcomm’s 4G LTE chips on its latest iPhones i.e. iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR. However, Qualcomm refused to supply its technology, citing the two-year-old legal saga between the two, forcing Apple to use Intel’s slower 4G LTE chips instead.
This long and epic legal war between Apple and Qualcomm dates back two years when Apple first disputed Qualcomm’s legal right to charge a hefty amount for the use of Qualcomm patents in iPhones. According to CNET, Apple pays $7.50 per iPhone for the use of Qualcomm’s tech in its devices which apparently is too high.
The paid amount is nearly five times of the amount Apple wants to pay i.e. $1.50 per device. The legal matter is still in court where Apple has sued the company in three countries.
In the United States, Apple has claimed a huge amount of $1 billion and so is the case in the UK. In answer, Qualcomm then countersued, stating Apple contravened on their agreement and has disclosed important information to their rivals (Intel) so that they can use their technology and methods to enhance the performance of Intel chips currently being used in iPhones.
Further, Qualcomm appealed to ban iPhone XS and XR in China and Germany, where they successfully won a ban over “iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models” in Germany.
This is no end to the legal battle between the two huge International companies, a lot more than this is still going on between the two. No matter who wins this battle, but it is sure that the repercussions of this “high stake” war will have a great impact on the future of both the companies.