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FTC Wins Antitrust Lawsuit Against Qualcomm [Updated]
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Intel would have gone on to make crappy 5G chips if Apple hadn’t settled with Qualcomm.
OUCH! They are gonna feel this one!
I was worried about this one - what with cronyism in Washington DC being worse than ever, Trump admin efforts to spin 5G as a "national security" issue and the enormous marketing and lobbying effort Qualcomm have been putting in. I didn't think we'd even get to a ruling.
I'm glad the facts and the law prevailed this time.
I was worried about this one - what with cronyism in Washington DC being worse than ever, Trump admin efforts to spin 5G as a "national security" issue and the enormous marketing and lobbying effort Qualcomm have been putting in. I didn't think we'd even get to a ruling.
I'm glad the facts and the law prevailed this time.
The first half is right. AFAIK, the only companies making 5G chipsets are: Qualcomm, Samsung, MediaTek, Huawei and UniSOC (overview at Anandtech).
Given the current US-China trade tensions, you can count UniSOC and Huawei out straight away. There is no way the US government is going to allow Apple to integrate modems from Chinese companies in iPhones sold to US consumers.
So that leaves Qualcomm, Samsung and MediaTek. Samsung typically only use their own modems in Korea and Qualcomm everywhere else (not sure why), and MediaTek typically targets mid-range rather than high-end devices. There are lots of optional parts of the spec which I guess they don't implement. That means Qualcomm is basically the only option for high-end 5G modems.
The last part, that Apple "were always going to be able to get them", is debatable. You say that Apple's case was not about access, but a big part of this FTC case was about Qualcomm tying that access to licensing, so they were not independent considerations. The judge ruled that they can't do that:
Also, those license terms were craaaaazy.
The FTC today won its antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm over the chipmaker's anticompetitive business practices.
As first reported by legal expert Florian Mueller on his blog FOSS Patents, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has ruled that Qualcomm's so-called "no license, no chips" model, under which the chipmaker has refused to provide chips to companies without a patent license, violates federal antitrust laws.
The ruling has significant implications for Apple, as Koh ordered that Qualcomm must negotiate or renegotiate license terms with its customers in good faith without threatening to cut off access to its cellular modem chips or related software and technical support, according to Mueller.
Qualcomm also must make patent licenses available to rival cellular modem suppliers on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory or "FRAND" terms, and may not enter exclusive agreements for the supply of modem chips.
Apple sued Qualcomm in early 2017 over these anticompetitive business practices, and unpaid royalty rebates, but the two companies announced an agreement to end all ongoing litigation worldwide last month. The settlement includes a six-year licensing agreement and a multiyear chipset supply agreement.
It's unclear if Apple had any hint that the FTC was likely to win its antitrust case and if that had any implications on its settlement with Qualcomm.
While it appears that Intel will remain the sole supplier of LTE modems in 2019 iPhones, Qualcomm is expected to supply Apple with its industry-leading 5G modems for 2020 iPhones now that the companies have settled, so Koh's ruling could lead to a fairer agreement between Apple and Qualcomm moving forward.
Farther down the road, multiple reports have indicated that Apple is designing its own cellular modems that would allow it to drop Qualcomm for good, although they might not appear in iPhones until as late as 2025.
Qualcomm will likely appeal the ruling, but Mueller believes the chipmaker faces an uphill battle given "such a rich and powerful body of evidence" regarding its anticompetitive business practices. Mueller has excellent, in-depth coverage of Koh's ruling on his blog FOSS Patents that is well worth a read.
Update: Qualcomm has announced that it will immediately seek a stay of the ruling and an expedited appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
"We strongly disagree with the judge's conclusions, her interpretation of the facts and her application of the law," said Don Rosenberg, general counsel of Qualcomm, in a statement shared by the Washington Post's Hamza Shaban.
Update 2: The ruling will not affect last month's settlement between Apple and Qualcomm, according to Bloomberg. "There are no provisions in the deal between Apple and Qualcomm that allowed for a reversal or change in the event the FTC won its case against the chipmaker," the report claims, citing a source.
Koh's complete ruling is embedded ahead.
Click here to read rest of article...
Article Link: FTC Wins Antitrust Lawsuit Against Qualcomm [Updated]
Lucy Steve Jobs Applefan Koh strikes again
It was not going to be a “couple of weeks.” While I think Qualcomm’s loss will hold, it’ll take a few years of continued litigation before know for sure. Apple can’t wait that long.
The 9th Circuit just granted Qualcomm's request for a stay. You may continue your nap.
