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

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature Purple

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture

Tuesday July 23, 2024 9:32 am PDT by
Apple is planning to release at least one iPhone 17 model next year with mechanical aperture, according to a report published today by The Information. The mechanical system would allow users to adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, which refers to the opening of the camera lens through which light enters. All existing iPhone camera lenses have fixed apertures, but some Android...

Top Rated Comments

Loge Avatar
82 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
82 months ago
Hopefully he can announce a new Mac Mini there.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
82 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
82 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
82 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
82 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)