Apple sues Qualcomm for US$1 billion over royalty fees
Days after the U.S Federal Trade Commission sued Qualcomm for anti-competitive policies, Apple also sued Qualcomm for nearly US$1 billion over royalty fees.
In a statment shared with CNBC, Apple claims that Qualcomm has unfairly insisted on charging royalties for technologies they (Apple) have nothing to do with. In fact, Apple states that it is paying at least five times more than all the other cellular patent licensors it has agreements with combined.
Apple also shared that Qualcomm has withheld about US$1 billion in payments after it worked with law enforcement agencies in Korea on their investigations of Qualcomm. In December last year, Qualcomm was fined US$853 million for unfair patent licensing in South Korea. In early 2015, Qualcomm paid US$975 million to China to resolve an antitrust dispute.
Qualcomm responded that it is still reviewing Apple's complaint in detail, but felt that the iPhone maker's claims were "baseless". It alleges that Apple has "intentionally mischaracterized" their agreements and negotiations.
The iPhone and iPad lineups have been using Qualcomm modems until last year when Apple included Intel modems in certain iPhone 7 models. It is interesting to see how this unfolds and the potential impacts on Apple's future products.