Apple CEO Tim Cook to Be Deposed in Qualcomm v. Apple Lawsuit on June 27

Apple CEO Tim Cook is set to attend a deposition in the ongoing Apple v. Qualcomm legal battle on June 27, according to Bloomberg.

Cook will be providing testimony as part of Qualcomm's lawsuit against Apple, which accuses the Cupertino-based company of lying to regulators to cause trouble for Qualcomm, leading to investigations in multiple countries.

The United States Federal Trade Commission in January accused Qualcomm of violating the FTC Act by using anticompetitive tactics and abusing its patent portfolio to remain the dominant supplier of LTE chips for smartphones, and in June, a judge ruled that Qualcomm will face an antitrust lawsuit.

qualcomm iphone 7
Qualcomm has also faced an antitrust investigation in South Korea, which it accused Apple of interfering in, and it has been fined $1.2 billion by European antitrust regulators for paying Apple to use its LTE chips in iOS devices. In South Korea, Qualcomm was fined 1.03 trillion won, or $902 million.

Qualcomm and Apple have been mired in an ever-escalating legal battle since the beginning of 2017 after Apple levied a $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm accusing the company of charging unfair royalties for "technologies they have nothing to do with."

Apple and Apple suppliers have stopped paying licensing fees to Qualcomm in the midst of the lawsuit, and Apple has maintained that Qualcomm's practice of charging a percentage of an iPhone's entire value is excessive. Qualcomm, meanwhile, says its technology is "at the heart of every iPhone."

Following Apple's lawsuit, Qualcomm filed a countersuit accusing Apple of breaching licensing agreements, making false statements, and encouraging regulatory attacks against Qualcomm in several countries.

Qualcomm has since sought import bans on some iPhones in the United States and export bans against the device in China, with Apple retaliating through further patent infringement lawsuits.

Given the legal dispute between the two companies, rumors have suggested Apple is considering eliminating Qualcomm chips from its future devices, instead relying on Intel and MediaTek.

Popular Stories

ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
Apple Foldable Thumb

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Friday October 31, 2025 8:52 am PDT by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that have been leaked about Apple's foldable iPhone so far. Ove...
apple tv hd

Apple Launched Its Big New Vision for TV 10 Years Ago Today

Thursday October 30, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device. The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...
iOS 26

Apple This November: iOS 26.2 Beta, Rumored New Products, and More

Thursday October 30, 2025 12:42 pm PDT by
Tomorrow is Halloween, and then November is upon us. Below, we outline what to expect from Apple next month, as the slower holiday season approaches. Apple is expected to kick off November by releasing iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, tvOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1. With beta testing now wrapped up, the updates will likely be released this Monday, November 3 or Tuesday,...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 18 Siri Personal Context

Apple CEO Tim Cook Says Revamped Siri on Track to Launch Next Year

Thursday October 30, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Apple CEO Tim Cook today said that a more personalized version of Siri remains on track to launch at some point next year, with the new set of features expected to debut on the iPhone as part of iOS 26.4 in March or April. "We're also excited for a more personalized Siri," said Cook, on Apple's earnings call for the third quarter of the 2025 calendar year. "We're making good progress on it,...

Top Rated Comments

Loge Avatar
99 months ago
Just saw the first bit

Apple CEO Tim Cook to Be Deposed

then saw the rest :p
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CrazyForApple Avatar
99 months ago
Hopefully he can announce a new Mac Mini there.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
99 months ago
I just hope they don’t get Zack Snyder to write the cinematic adaptation, Qualcomm v. Apple: Dawn of Justice.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
techwhiz Avatar
99 months ago
Why did apple agree to this in first place and then realize they are being robbed?
It is the usual model so that low cost handsets can be made.
A percentage of the cost allows a low cost handset to be made and not have it increase in cost for licensing fees.
This allows emerging markets to have the technology.

Apple agreed to it and now finds it onerous because an iPhone can cost $1k with Qualcomm getting a percentage that Apple now feels that Qualcomm is not entitled to.

Everyone else in the industry pays those fees. Samsung, LG, Essential and anyone else using a Qualcomm modem, to name just a few. Everyone pays the same for Qualcomm licenses.
For example, here is their structure for 5G from EE-Times -> https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1332657 and from Qualcomm -> https://www.qualcomm.com/invention/licensing.

"Ericsson announced plans to license its 5G IP for $5 per handset, but indicated that this could go as low as $2.50 in emerging markets. Now, Qualcomm has also announced rates for 5G that also shed some light on other aspects of the company’s licensing model.

Qualcomm announced that it will license 5G standard essential patents (SEPs) for stand-alone mode branded phones at 2.275 percent of the wholesale price of the phone and 3.25 percent for multimode (2G/3G/4G/5G) phones. Tirias Research estimates the wholesale price at approximately 65 percent of the sale price of the phone.

Additionally, Qualcomm will license its entire portfolio of patents for 4 percent for stand-alone mode and 5 percent for multimode. The SEPs are required to build a basic phone, but the entire portfolio covers the applications, operation and other features of most phones, which is why most OEMs choose to license the entire portfolio.

These are the same rates Qualcomm used for licensing 4G IP and the rates approved by the Chinese NDRC for all 4G/LTE phones sold in China. As a result, the rates have been in use and unchanged by any government regulatory agencies. This is important because the licensing rates are a key issue in Qualcomm’s dispute with Apple."



For Ericsson, the incremental cost of a low cost phone can be pretty high.
On a $25 wholesale phone, Ericsson can be 10% of the cost at $2.50. That can rise to $5 on a high end phone but is capped. So Ericsson gets only 1% on a $500 phone.

For Qualcomm the incremental cost on a phone in emerging markets is pretty low.
On a $25 wholesale price, even a multimode phone is about $.80. So the impact on low cost phones is pretty low.
At about $150 for the phone Ericsson and Qualcomm get about the same $5.
Since Ericsson is capped at $5 they get no more at a $800 price point.
Qualcomm on the other hand would get $26 for the same $800 handset.

This means that it's expensive to use Ericsson tech in low cost handsets and the opposite in high cost handsets.
For Qualcomm it means that they get very little for cheap handsets and expensive handsets bear the cost for emerging markets.

The key here is everyone is paying the same percentage.
Qualcomm is not gouging Apple individually.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DevNull0 Avatar
99 months ago
One who submits to a deposition is "deposed" whether or not he has received a subpoena. This term is used in all English-speaking countries.
The English word "Depose" means to remove forcefully from office.

The usage as "give a deposition" is legal jargon, and while correct much less common usage for the word unless you're already in a legal context.

Also, in American english at least, an active voice is more common than a passive voice. "I took a test at school today" vs "I was tested at school today". Both are valid English sentences with the same meaning but the first one sounds more proper to an American ear. Same as "I gave a deposition today" vs "I was deposed today". The first one in the active voice sounds more proper even though both are right.

So yeah, the headline was chosen to be sensationalist and make people misread it the first time.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DaveOP Avatar
99 months ago
As an Apple shareholder, they need to settle this, and using intel and (especially) MediaTek is a step backwards for iPhone components.
Are you on a cell carrier that would max out an Intel modem? It would be better for everyone if the Qualcomm monopoly on CDMA tech came to an end.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)