With this agreement why not this year? Seems apple wanted this over quickly so they could get their chips. At least until apple develops their own.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple and Qualcomm Reach Settlement, Agree to Drop All Litigation
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I didn't think there was a court room big enough for all the sea lawyers on this forum.
And so Apple settled because... I mean if it’s case is as strong as you imply, why would they not go to court? The fact they settled out of court shouts loud, and have those other investigations concluded? I also believe they were not linked to Apple? It looked at other aspects. But Apple agreed to pay QC the amount it was, they just wanted to change that deal.
It’s today’s world. Apple is not alone by any means. Entities such as Apple, Google, Amazon, QC, and thousands of others have the same MO.
The big players attract the most attention. Therefore they appear the most malignant. I don’t see anything changing in our lifetime.
Intel is tanking today. However, I see QC modems in all flagship iPhone for 2019. No 5G until 2020. Intel still supplying for the devices manufactured in India, and if still around this fall the 8/8+.
Yeap, just seems pointless and the capability to just sit round a table and negotiate a deal is dead?
I see Qualcomm soon, when I guess depends on the supplier contract Apple has with Intel already. Interesting point about India, I mean because this site reported a lot of iPhones planned to be made there!
Back in the days, companies who depended on each other sat down and fought it out by talking about pricing.
Today we sue first and then talk. What a time to be a lawyer...
Today we sue first and then talk. What a time to be a lawyer...
This case is different. Qualcomm has patents that they can license, and that they deserve license fees for. Apple has to pay license fees. However, the company that violates the law cannot charge as much for their licenses as they wanted to.
Yet to be determined if Apple will use both suppliers or not.Thank God this mess is over, so we can get the best chips in our premium priced iPhones!
To be honest, too many times on my XR I’ll have full bars on Verizon LTE and slow webpage opening and the spinning wheel on YouTube videos.
The number of bars don't mean anything. They're whatever the phone manufacturer wants them to be. There's no standard. I often times find it to mean I have a good call connection but it doesn't represent my data connection.
To see what's really going on you have to dive in to the service menu.
Wonder if both sides saw weaknesses in their sides, which is why we got this settlement.
I agree with your post and see both sides coming out winning here, as you said Apple needs Qualcomm for 5G and it was most likely in Qualcomm's interest to renegotiate the prices per device as it'll mean more volume for them. Apple is a huge customer being they sell over 150M devices a year so that business is never a bad thing. I just get annoyed by people here thinking Qualcomm completely lost out.
5G may not be widespread until 2020, 2021, or maybe even 2022 but my next phone will be 5G regardless because I'm not settling for a 4G only now that we're trying to move forward. I just thought it was ridiculous for people to claim a 5G phone doesn't matter due to this dispute but now all of a sudden everyone's like "yea 5G".
Have you missed the posts above where Qualcomm has lost EVERY SINGLE antitrust case over modem licensing around the world? And been fined literally billions (so far, the FTC case is still awaiting a final verdict)? Do you actually think a company that's lost every case so far is in a position to dictate terms to Apple?
Think of the reverse. If Qualcomm had such a strong case then why did they settle? Both sides have to agree to a settlement, but that doesn't mean that they both have equal standing (in terms of what would have happened in court).
Qualcomm was about to have yet ANOTHER huge court loss. They already lost $1 billion to Apple last month over this issue.
There's no way Qualcomm had the upper hand in this settlement.
Cheaper phones for emerging markets. That's how you build your customer base. But it's not just about older products but also future ones.
The opposite. QCOM has been depressed for awhile because of all the lawsuits. Losing this would have cratered QCOM lost because Qualcomm is a much smaller company than Apple (the biggest company in the world), and because an Apple victory would have meant open season by other manufacturers on Qualcomm. Instead QCOM spiked 25%+ today because it got the better of apple. Apple agreed to pay a settlement, they signed new deal with each other, and Qualcomm's business model is now strengthened.
If I am Qualcom CEO, i won't be worried. iPhone is more or less smaller player in terms of market share. I have other like 80% of market share where Android phones. Almost all the Andorid phone has Qualcom processor and modem. And be honst, Qualcom has so much 4G and 5G patents, they will sleep with all the loyality payment.
It is more or less Apple's problem if they could not find anyone to source their 5G modems. It is not like Apple can develop 5G modem overnight. Even if they do, they still have to pay all the pantent holders for using 5G things. Companies like Qualcom, Huawei, Nokia... They all have some short of patents with regarding 5G.
I am willing to bet, Apple has to made some comprise for settlement. And it is not like Qualcome has lost all the lawsuits. They win the lawsuit in China and Germany.
Let me get this straight. Apple started the litigation by suing Qualcomm, but Apple settles the litigation by paying Qualcomm. Somebody in Cupertino must be kicking themself in the ass!
Ah, yeah good point !
Hmm.. In this case it seems like Qualcomm never actually "sells" the chips, unless you also license their patents separately. And they also claim that you have to pay for patents that infringe on the final product, but are not part of the chips that they sold and hence are 'not exhausted'. And then there is the FRAND policy. Lots of complicating factors here.. But yeah.. IANAL, and don't really have any bone to pick either way. Both companies have very well paid lawyers..
It conceivable that either side could have caved. If Qualcomm agrees to lower their licensing fees in the settlement in exchange for locking in apple for 6 years, that would mean they caved. But most probably it's a compromise agreement.