Qualcomm Says Apple is $7 Billion Behind in Royalty Payments

[SteveW928]

Well, that company had to buy all the furnaces and when Apple was not happy with the yield rates, Apple called it quits leaving the other party with a huge debt. The owner bailed on the shareholders only when Apple was already out of the picture. So Apple pulled the plug first.

I see this as more a situation (all too common, unfortunately) of biting off more than one can chew. It wasn't just about furnace expenses and yields, if I understand correctly, but of them taking on something they were incapable of pulling off with $$$ in their eyes. I've seen this out in the business world way too often... you even hear expressed in a 'take the job, then figure out how to do it' kind of way.

So, IMO, the story goes more like... potential sapphire produce courts and BSs Apple into picking them as a supplier, then can't pull the job off. Apple then dumps them, and they go under because their debts are way too high to possibly survive.

 

[AZ63]

A deal is a deal. You pay for the deal you signed. Holding back payments is chicken ****.

I agree, why Qualcomm not honor it's deal?

 

[jinnj]

Even Samsung have identified this is a problem and are finally fully transitioning to their own SoCs.

That won't help. The problem is not the chip or their prices but the patents on the tech used in those chips. Samsung would have to create an alternative solution, patent it and then get everyone else to switch to it. Qualcomm is selling your these chips and then charging them for using them in your system.
[doublepost=1540758737][/doublepost]

I don’t understand the technicalities like the rest of you guys do.... but using common sense

Qualcomm has a lot to lose if apple’s lawsuit is valid. Because in that same week that the judge rule in Apples favor. Samsung, Google, HTC, etc is going to be walking in with Fresh lawsuits of their own

I would say it might be cheaper if apple buys Qualcomm if you look at the price of doing it vs loyalty payments projected over 10 years.

But I wonder why Intel never considered taking over Qualcomm... or even AMD

The war chest of patents would certainly have a better home with those 2 companies

Intel taking over AMD would be an instant monopoly lawsuit. The x86 patents would be held solely by 1 company.

 

[SvenSvenson]

The fact that even though Apple is purchasing the chips from them, that they want them to also pay them to use the chips. Sorry but it’s one or the other. Otherwise it’s double dipping and greedy.

You don’t sound as though you are privy to the details of the agreement. It’s obviously not that simple n

 

[jinnj]

The same sort of BS we saw with the whole situation with Flash.

How was this the same as "Flash"! Adobe was given chances to get that P.O.S. optimized and they failed. And all of this came on before the massive amounts of flaws were discovered! Where is Flash now? Safari is not the number one browser and yet Flash has died.

 

[SteveW928]

How was this the same as "Flash"! Adobe was given chances to get that P.O.S. optimized and they failed. And all of this came on before the massive amounts of flaws were discovered! Where is Flash now? Safari is not the number one browser and yet Flash has died.

No doubt! Flash was just a total software abomination.

 

[@Brett]

Well maybe if this is what Qualcomm is stating that the price is fair because they are the heart of the device. Maybe Apple should charge them royalties as without the device there would be nowhere to put their chips?

 

[Lerxt]

A deal is a deal. You pay for the deal you signed. Holding back payments is chicken ****.

This is a simplistic attitude. A “deal” means nothing. Apple and Qualcomm have a contract that one party thinks is not being honest in managing to the standard they expect. Apple has an obligation to shareholders to do what they are doing.

 

[SteveW928]

This is a simplistic attitude. A “deal” means nothing. Apple and Qualcomm have a contract that one party thinks is not being honest in managing to the standard they expect. Apple has an obligation to shareholders to do what they are doing.

If one party thinks the contract isn't correct, then you re-write the contract. I think it's more complex because it involves licensing and fees, and not just straight-out buying a product.

 

[ostrykolesz]

LOL, only Apple is allowed to milk customers. No body is allowed to milk Apple.

 

[ttobeck]

Apple owes $7 billion in royalties to Qualcomm since halting payments because of its ongoing dispute with the mobile chip maker over unfair licensing practices, according to a court hearing on Friday (via Bloomberg).

Apple began withholding the payments through its manufacturers last year, after the tech giant filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm claiming that the chipmaker was charging unfair royalties for "technologies they have nothing to do with." However, Qualcomm maintains its technology "is at the heart of every iPhone," and that the royalties are entirely valid.

The two companies have been locked in the wide-ranging legal battle since 2017, with Apple accusing Qualcomm of unfair patent licensing practices and Qualcomm accusing Apple of patent infringement.

Apple argues that the mobile chipmaker is forcing it to pay for the use of its chips in iPhones and then again through patent royalties, a practice Apple refers to as "double-dipping." However Qualcomm claims it is doing nothing illegal and that Apple has agreed to the business model for years.

Both Apple and Qualcomm have filed multiple lawsuits against one another, with Qualcomm also seeking import and export bans on some iPhones in the United States and China.

Article Link: Qualcomm Says Apple is $7 Billion Behind in Royalty Payments

I know this is completely off topic, but I though I should share with everyone that if you say “Hey Siri 100” it will start calling authorities. I hope this gets attention so Apple can fix it.

 

[Robert.Walter]

If some lawyer fighting an obscure patent battle thinks Apple is trying to destroy Qualcomm’s business, imagine what the guys in the sales department were saying on the news that Apple had sourced its future modem chip business to Intel. LoL.

 

[-BigMac-]

Qualcomm is charging unfair royalties? But apple is charging unfair prices for their products with obscene profits. they figured out a way to charge more for a Mac mini by putting the word "pro" in front of it.

Pro Mac Mini?

Never heard of it

 

[SteveW928]

Pro Mac Mini?

Never heard of it

Hopefully we will in a few days... but I'm trying really hard not to get my hopes up too much, as Apple has been severely disappointing me for like 5+ years now.

 

[fairuz]

No doubt! Flash was just a total software abomination.

To be fair, the alternatives are still worse performance-wise today. Especially the non-hardware-accelerated trash Google keeps pushing. A performant computer struggles to do a web-based video call, like we're back in 2003.

I agree they should've killed Flash. But things didn't turn out the way they were supposed to.

 

[SteveW928]

To be fair, the alternatives are still worse performance-wise today. Especially the non-hardware-accelerated trash Google keeps pushing. A performant computer struggles to do a web-based video call, like we're back in 2003.

I agree they should've killed Flash. But things didn't turn out the way they were supposed to.

I suppose, but Flash was kind of an application globbed onto the web anyway, right? So, comparing pure browser solutions might not be fair. And, other app based web-tie-in kind of technologies can handle that kind of thing just fine (though, maybe the entry-level Macs I've used are still considered 'performant' in comparison to some of the really cheap PC junk out there?).

 

[DeepIn2U]

They don’t just rely on Apple, though. Qualcomm have an absolute monopoly on everything non-Apple. Unfortunately if you’re not looking to buy an Apple phone, the competition will only use Qualcomm chips as both CPUs and modems.

It’s as if somebody boycotted a pop album by buying a metal album. You’re not off the grid — your money’s just going to another massive conglomerate record company instead.

Even Samsung have identified this is a problem and are finally fully transitioning to their own SoCs.

Huwei makes their own chips too.
Misspelled but you know the company.

 

[fairuz]

I suppose, but Flash was kind of an application globbed onto the web anyway, right? So, comparing pure browser solutions might not be fair. And, other app based web-tie-in kind of technologies can handle that kind of thing just fine (though, maybe the entry-level Macs I've used are still considered 'performant' in comparison to some of the really cheap PC junk out there?).

Flash and newer web technologies alike have "native code" support written in the browser, like what'd be written in C or C++. The new solutions aren't stacked on top of Javascript or something. There's no difference really, just that Flash was all proprietary.

Proprietary standards aren't good long-term, but often times they develop more quickly. Google has been leading the new standards effort, with things that are open, except they seem to give Chrome a head start on implementation. The native support I mentioned is often missing in other browsers for some time, which you may have seen if you've used Safari on a site requiring WebRTC (Discord voice) or VP9 (YouTube 4K videos).

 

[kstotlani]

Billionaire against Billionaire. That’s like spending money for both companies..

Lawyers win.

 

[bayelrey80]

I think I'll buy a phone from Apple for over $1000, but 6 months in, feel it's overpriced and let Apple know as I now feel this, I'll be stopping future payments
I'm sure they will understand.

It won't matter. It'll be written off as bad debt and likely sold off to a collections company where they can hound you and screw up your credit in the mean time. Thanks for the crappy analogy though!
[doublepost=1540794071][/doublepost]

LOL, only Apple is allowed to milk customers. No body is allowed to milk Apple.

How does Apple milks its customers? Explain.
I assume you use Facebook, what exactly do you get from them in exchange for ALL your data? Qualcomm got caught trying to grab more than a single cookie out the jar. And not just Apple, EVERYBODY that uses Qualcomm modems. Clearly your so Anti-Apple that you can't see Qualcomm is in the wrong here

 

[Whathappened]

Apple's going to end up paying most of this out once they settle. I'm surprised at how brazen Tim has gotten about this stuff. Apple spent decades being a bully. I guess they learned the ropes.

To be clear, **** Qualcomm. This was a ****** deal, but this isn't how you deal with these things.

As if you know any details of what’s really going on.

 

[Bornee35]

I would hazard a guess that the situation and conflict is slightly more complex than the few paragraphs of this Bloomberg news story..

Bloomberg probably thinks the royalties are hidden right by those Chinese server chips.

 

[Dominicanyor]

Typical apple. While some android phones will be 5g ready. iPhones will be 2yrs behind!

 

[kdarling]

Not good to rely on one company to provide most of your companies income.

Apple products were 10% of Qualcomm's revenue at the time, not most of it.

 

[TehFalcon]

Apple products were 10% of Qualcomm's revenue at the time, not most of it.

My comment was sarcasm toward Qualcomm saying Apple was ruining their business...