It seems the partnership between Apple and Qualcomm has come to an end, as Cupertino has decided to go to court to settle a dispute over royalty payments.
Apple has already released an official statement explaining why it decided to file a lawsuit against Qualcomm. The amount Apple is seeking from Qualcomm is as much as $1 billion.
“For many years, Qualcomm has insisted on charging royalties for technologies that have nothing to do with it. While Apple innovates with unique features, such as TouchID, advanced displays and cameras, to name just a few, Qualcomm collects more money for no reason and thus makes it more expensive for Apple to fund these innovations,” Apple’s statement published by CBNC.
Apple also claims that Qualcomm has charged it up to five times more than any other patent holder, which is why Apple is taking legal action.
“Despite the fact that we are only one of dozens of companies that contributed to key cellular standards, Qualcomm insists on charging Apple at least five times more than all other cellular patent licensors.”
According to the announcement, Qualcomm is also reportedly withholding $1 billion from Apple because Cupertino helped South Korean authorities investigate Qualcomm's businesses.
“Qualcomm has taken very radical measures, recently withholding nearly $1 billion from Apple’s payments in retaliation for its honest dealings with law enforcement agencies investigating them.”
Qualcomm has yet to respond to Apple's lawsuit and allegations, and it will be very interesting to see how this conflict ends.
