时间:2024-11-10 10:47:19 来源:网络整理编辑:綜合
Cue the Tom Petty, because nobody's backing down in the Apple vs. Qualcomm legal battle.On Tuesday,
Cue the Tom Petty, because nobody's backing down in the Apple vs. Qualcomm legal battle.
On Tuesday, opening arguments from Apple and Qualcomm will begin in a federal court in San Diego. Apple is suing Qualcomm for what it alleges are anti-competitive practices. Qualcomm says Apple needs to pay for its IP, without which the iPhone would not exist. Apple has sued Qualcomm for $1 billion, but billions more could be at stake.
The battle has been brewing for years. Here is everything you need to know about the case.
Beginning in 2011, Apple sold iPhones with Qualcomm chips inside that powered the device's connection to cellular networks. For years, Qualcomm was the exclusive chip provider for Apple. But then things got messy.
In addition to actually paying for Qualcomm's chips, Apple has to pay a licensing fee for the intellectual property that enables smartphones to connect to the internet through the baseband processor. Because Qualcomm is the exclusive holder of the patents, Apple is alleging anti-competitive practices.
As part of their agreement for Apple to exclusively use Qualcomm chips between 2013 and 2016, Qualcomm agreed to pay Apple a $1 billion rebate annually. Part of this agreement included Apple not cooperating with regulators, and not working with other chip makers.
As Apple improved (and raised the prices of) the iPhone, Apple reportedly became frustrated with the slice of the pie that Qualcomm was demanding, arguing that Qualcomm was riding the coattails of Apple's innovation. Apple began exploring working with another chipmaker, Intel. It also started cooperating with Korean regulators that were looking into Qualcomm's IP royalty policies. Then, shots were fired.
Qualcomm refused to pay the $1 billion annual fee in 2016. Apple subsequently refused to pay the royalty fees, and by 2017, switched over to using Intel chips, instead of Qualcomm.
In January 2017, Apple filed its complaint against Qualcomm, asking the courts to reduce the royalty rates, and to pay the $1 billion it owed. Qualcomm fired back with lawsuits of its own, alleging that Apple was in breach of contract for not paying royalties, and for working with Intel. What's more, the FTC filed an antitrust suit against Qualcomm, that it prosecuted in January.
The judge on the FTC case has not yet made a ruling, although she has told Qualcomm that it has to license its patents to other chipmakers — which it had refused to do before.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm won a patent infringement case against Apple related to patents involving battery life and starting up the phone. That could help set legal precedent for the main event.
Qualcomm wants its royalty money back, to the tune of $7 billion. But its whole business model—of both selling chips and licensing the IP behind the whole cellular connectivity system—is at stake.
Apple's manufacturers, which joined Apple in the suit, and are the ones that actually pay the fees (Apple reimburses them), want $27 billion in restitution for what they think are unfair royalty payments. They could get three times that amount, if the court finds that Qualcomm has violated antitrust law.
Apple also wants Qualcomm IP fees brought down to 5 percent of the price of the chip, which would be $1.50 per device — down from $7.50.
This is likely to affect consumers in two ways: price and 5G connectivity.
If Qualcomm wins, Apple may raise the price of its iPhones even higher. If Apple wins, there's no guarantee Apple won't raise prices, but at least it has one less incentive to make them more expensive.
It could also affect when you get your 5G iPhone. Just as it did with 3G and 4G, Qualcomm holds key patents related to the mobile chip technology that will allow smartphones to connect to 5G networks. Using Intel chips, iPhones reportedly won't get 5G until at least 2020, and maybe even later. So if Apple and Qualcomm can't work out their differences, 5G on iPhones could still be a long, expensive way off.
Topics5GAppleiPhone
Florida hurricane forecast remains uncertain, but trends in state's favor2024-11-10 10:33
馬奎爾告別索帥:你把我帶到最佳俱樂部 永存感激2024-11-10 10:21
FIFA女足年度最佳球員候選名單 :科爾池笑然在列2024-11-10 09:35
媒體人:把中超和出線足球分開 嚴查資金來源和股東成分2024-11-10 09:27
Satisfy your Olympics withdrawals with Nike's latest app2024-11-10 09:07
索帥已同球員正式告別離開基地 路上與球迷擁抱致意2024-11-10 09:03
比賽日 :傑拉德執教首秀維拉22024-11-10 08:54
英媒列索帥下課五大原因 :思維混亂 重用馬奎爾2024-11-10 08:44
Old lady swatting at a cat ends up in Photoshop battle2024-11-10 08:39
濟南天氣漸冷泰山欲本周南下 賽程不利盼快速進入狀態2024-11-10 08:07
Uber's $100M settlement over drivers as contractors may not be enough2024-11-10 10:37
FIFA女足年度最佳球員候選名單 :科爾池笑然在列2024-11-10 10:17
國足隊員回顧兩場比賽坦言不滿意:我從頭至尾看了至少兩遍2024-11-10 10:00
河北功夫衝甲前國腳汪嵩發文 :感謝幫助和傷害我的人2024-11-10 09:53
Ivanka Trump's unpaid interns share cringeworthy financial advice2024-11-10 09:38
恐怖!球迷從看台扔下手術刀 擊中哥倫比亞球員右手2024-11-10 09:26
重慶隊股權改革無實質性進展 大部分球員已經回家等待結果2024-11-10 09:13
巴媒:高拉特已完成體檢 將加盟帕爾梅拉斯2024-11-10 08:55
Honda's all2024-11-10 08:36
中國國字號2021比賽回顧:兩位7號挑大梁 王霜武磊獨木難支(圖)2024-11-10 08:24