Apple claims Qualcomm didn’t want to sell its chips for the current iPhones

According to Apple, the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max couldn't get Qualcomm chips because the chip maker wouldn't sell it to them

Qualcomm is currently on trial against the US Federal Trade Commission in California with the former facing charges that accuse them of engaging in monopolistic practices. At the trial, it’s being brought to light what happened between the chip maker and Apple. Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams said in a testimony to the US Federal Trade Commission that Qualcomm refused to sell them chips after Apple sued them over its licensing practices. At first glance, it seems Apple switched exclusively to Intel modems for competitive reasons—or even out of spite—but according to Williams’ testimony, there were plans to use both Qualcomm and Intel chips, but the former refused to sell to them. And we heard about how much Apple had to pay Qualcomm for its modems. According to Williams, it was US$7.50 per device, which is five times more than the $1.50 it wanted to pay. But Williams said they paid because they needed the chips and they “didn’t have a lot of options.”

The trouble between the two companies started in 2017 when Apple sued Qualcomm for unfair licensing terms. Qualcomm countersued, claiming Apple infringed on its patents and was sharing information with Intel. As of October 2018, Qualcomm claims Apple owes them $7 billion in royalty payments. The company has taken Apple to court in other countries. It’s even won in Germany and China has gotten bans for selling older iPhones in those countries.

Consumers are getting the short end of the stick here, too. This could hurt Apple’s chances of getting a 5G iPhone out on to the market soon. Intel’s 5G chips aren’t expected to come out until 2020. Plus, it’s known that Intel’s LTE modems are slower than Qualcomm’s. Back when Apple used both chips, Apple had to cap the speeds on Qualcomm modems so some iPhones won’t have faster speeds over the others.

Source: The Verge