Apple iPhone would be nothing without us – Qualcomm

Qualcomm has announced that it’s counter-suing Apple after the iPhone maker initially filed action against the chipmaker in January.

Apple said that it was taking action because Qualcomm was “charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with”.

Now, the chipmaker has announced that it has filed a counter-claim against the Cupertino company, detailing its grievances in the process.

According to the company, Apple failed to “engage in good faith negotiations for a license to Qualcomm’s 3G and 4G standard essential patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms”.

Qualcomm’s claims

That’s just the start of Qualcomm’s grievances with Apple though. The company alleges that Apple breached agreements, interfered in Qualcomm’s agreements with licensees and “mischaracterised” agreements and negotiations.

The company also alleges that Apple “encouraged regulatory attacks” on Qualcomm’s business by “misrepresenting facts and making false statements”.

However, one of the bigger claims is that Apple chose not to use the full performance of Qualcomm chips in the iPhone 7, “misrepresenting” the performance between these iPhones and iPhones equipped with competitor-supplied modems.

Qualcomm says it was also threatened in a bid to keep it from making any public comparisons about the “the superior performance of the Qualcomm-powered iPhones”.

Qualcomm has gone so far to say that Apple’s iPhone wouldn’t be nearly as successful without Qualcomm technology

The company has also claimed that Apple’s iPhone empire hinged on Qualcomm technology.

“The value of our inventions has been proven through hundreds of license agreements, negotiated and renegotiated over almost three decades, with virtually every significant handset maker in history, including the companies in Asia that have manufactured Apple iPhones and iPads. Over the last ten years, Apple has played a significant role in bringing the benefits of mobile technology to consumers with its popular products and services,” said Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm.

“But Apple could not have built the incredible iPhone franchise that has made it the most profitable company in the world, capturing over 90 percent of smartphone profits, without relying upon Qualcomm’s fundamental cellular technologies. Now, after a decade of historic growth, Apple refuses to acknowledge the well established and continuing value of those technologies. It has launched a global attack on Qualcomm and is attempting to use its enormous market power to coerce unfair and unreasonable license terms from Qualcomm. We intend to vigorously defend our business model, and pursue our right to protect and receive fair value for our technological contributions to the industry.”