Back in January,
Apple filed three lawsuits against Qualcomm. One sought unpaid royalties that Apple claimed is owed to it by the chipmaker. Another one demanded $145 million in damages and accused Qualcomm of "abusing its clout" in the market. And the third suit stated that Qualcomm failed to deliver on a promise to license its standards essential patents at a reasonable price.
On Monday, Qualcomm filed answers to Apple's questions, and at the same time it added counterclaims to Apple's lawsuit. According to Qualcomm, Apple:
- Breached agreements and mischaracterized agreements and negotiations with Qualcomm;
- Interfered with Qualcomm’s long-standing agreements with Qualcomm licensees that manufacture iPhones and iPads for Apple;
- Encouraged regulatory attacks on Qualcomm’s business in various jurisdictions around the world by misrepresenting facts and making false statements;
- Chose not to utilize the full performance of Qualcomm’s modem chips in its iPhone 7, misrepresented the performance disparity between iPhones using Qualcomm modems and those using competitor-supplied modems; and
- Threatened Qualcomm in an attempt to prevent it from making any public comparisons about the superior performance of the Qualcomm-powered iPhones.
As you might recall, the Verizon and Sprint versions of the Apple iPhone 7 and Apple iPhone 7 Plus employ Qualcomm's X12 modem. The AT&T and T-Mobile variants use the Intel XMM 3360 modem. Because the Qualcomm modem runs at 600Mbps compared to 450Mbps for the Intel modem, Apple has had to throttle the speed of the Qualcomm modem in order to match the speed of the Intel modem. In testing, the Qualcomm powered iPhones are still reportedly running faster than the Intel flavored models. This is news that Qualcomm claims Apple wanted to keep quiet.
According to Qualcomm's release, it is seeking damages from Apple for reneging on promises it made to the chipmaker. It also wants Apple to stop interfering with agreements that Qualcomm has with the companies that assemble the iPhone and iPad for the tech titan.
"Qualcomm is the world leader in inventing and developing fundamental, ground-breaking mobile technologies that enable the worldwide mobile ecosystem. Today, Qualcomm's patented technologies remain the primary value driver for mobile devices. 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. 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."-Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel, Qualcomm
source: Qualcomm
Things that are NOT allowed: