Apple's Legal Dispute With Qualcomm to Continue as Tim Cook Says Claims of Settlement Talks Are False

In an interview today with Mad Money's Jim Cramer, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared some details about the company's ongoing legal battle with Qualcomm.

Despite rumors of settlement talks, Cook says that Apple has not been in any settlement discussions with Qualcomm since the third calendar quarter of last year. And in response to a question about whether Apple will cave and enter into a settlement with Qualcomm given the import bans in China and Germany, Cook said "no."

He then went on to blast Qualcomm for its pricing and licensing practices, calling them "illegal," and he commented on Qualcomm's tactic of spreading fake news, calling it "not how things should operate" and saying it "should be beneath companies."

The issues that we have with Qualcomm is that they have a policy of no license, no chips. This is, in our view, illegal. And so many regulators in many different countries agree with this. And then secondly, the obligation to offer their patent portfolio on a fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory basis. And they don't do that. They charge exorbitant prices. And they have a lot of different tactics they use to do that. And that's not just us saying that. I mean, you can see what's coming out of the FTC trial here in the United States.

Apple and Qualcomm have been involved in an increasingly bitter legal battle since 2017. Qualcomm has resorted to filing lawsuits against Apple for patent infringement and has won preliminary import bans against older iPhones in China and Germany.

The FTC's antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm kicked off this week, with the FTC claiming, like Apple, that Qualcomm has used its position and portfolio of patents to impose anticompetitive supply and licensing terms on manufacturers.

Tag: Qualcomm

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I7guy

15 months ago

Tim Cook spitting out the sentence “They charge exorbitant prices” made me almost pissed my piss laughing. Ever seen a mirror Tim?

Why are apples prices exorbitant when the competition is right up there? Some of Samsung’s new phones will be right up there as well.

Rating: 4 Votes

lolkthxbai

15 months ago

The issues that we have with Qualcomm is that they have a policy of no license, no chips

Sorta like a policy of "No 30% App Store revenue sharing, no apps"

you just compared apples to oranges

a more apt comparison would be trying to buy a car but being forced to also pay for the right to drive the car. otherwise, you’re not allowed to buy the car.

as for the app store, if you want to sell it in their store they take a cut of the revenue for distributing the app and handling payment, just like your grocery store that sells their “generic” brand next to the “premium” third-party brands. those third-parties pay the store a percent of their sales for stocking their product and selling it for them. this allows generic brands to typically sell their product at cheaper prices

Rating: 4 Votes

Abazigal

15 months ago

No reason to settle. If it’s a fight Qualcomm wants, it’s a fight they will get.

Rating: 3 Votes

JohnnyApple$eed

15 months ago

Tim Cook spitting out the sentence “They charge exorbitant prices” made me almost piss my piss laughing. Ever seen a mirror Tim?

Rating: 2 Votes

BootsWalking

15 months ago

The issues that we have with Qualcomm is that they have a policy of no license, no chips

Sorta like a policy of "No 30% App Store revenue sharing, no apps"

Rating: 2 Votes

truthertech

15 months ago

I knowpatent stuff is complicated.

Tim Cook spitting out the sentence “They charge exorbitant prices” made me almost piss my piss laughing. Ever seen a mirror Tim?

I know this patent dispute is complicated, but here goes. No one is forced to buy an iPhone; hence, Apple, Google, Samsung, etc., can all charge whatever they want and the free market decides the correct price. Not so with Qualcomm. Their technology was essentially adopted by the industry, so it became a "standard essential" patent which means that companies have no choice but to use it, so Qualcomm's prices must be FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory).

Qualcomm is being sued around the world because they have abused their monopoly position by 1) charging a percentage of the phone price, (which means they keep getting more money as companies add other technology, etc., to their phones despite the modem not adding any more value), and 2) Qualcomm has also been requiring companies to buy a separate license, in addition to the chip.

Qualcomm is going to lose on both counts. Remember, it's not just them vs. Apple. It's Qualcomm versus the FTC and regulators around the world, and Google, Amazon and Facebook are also supporting Apple in this dispute.

Rating: 2 Votes

Sasparilla

15 months ago

I sympathize with what you're saying Grumpy. I'd rather have Qualcomm modems on my Xr as well - although it works good enough for me (no issues on T-Mobile in Chicago but I've been watching), Intel modems certainly are not what I'd choose (we had a Qualcomm 8 Plus and Intel 8 last year so you could see some performance difference).

And yeah Mediatek, um Apple don't forget / don't leave Intel. ;-) Seems the best we can hope for are the lawsuits to get resolved (which will take a while), but even then it seems a really long, long shot for Apple to start using Qualcomm again (JMHO), even though I'd rather have Apple use them.

Rating: 1 Votes

I7guy

15 months ago

You’re joking right? If not, first thing, Apple hiked prices first and then Samsung (and industry) followed suit. If your neighbor sold their home for 30% above market, wouldn’t you try and do the same? I don’t blame Samsung as much as Apple since that screen and technology that Apple has in their phone is licensed by Samsung patent. Second, Apple has raised prices on nearly every product the make with next to no changes or minimal upgrades. There is a difference between upgrade in technology YOY versus “innovation”. You don’t see Jon Ivy taking these interviews with NBC Business and the WSJ, etc. because innovation hasn’t happened in quite some time.

No, not joking. If last year a dozen eggs cost three dollars and this year the same eggs cost four dollars. The price of eggs were raised. However if instead this year the egg manufacturer sold 18 eggs for $4.50 would you still say the price off eggs were raised?

Whether you agree or line it Apple has been throwing more tech in phones and charging more accordingly.

And as far as why Jony Ive doesn’t take interviews it’s all conjecture.

Rating: 1 Votes

BvizioN

15 months ago

All this money spent on lawsuits and what does it get anybody? My husband’s XS Max can’t get signal inside parts of his office building and his much cheaper Pixel 3XL can.

I used an Xs for 10 days and could get signal everywhere just fine, like my X does.
And I don't care how good Qualcomm's chipset is. The moment they start playing games, they are out. Kudos to Apple for taking the business somewhere else and not dealing/being intimidated by these crocks. And I believe it would be a matter of time before Apple makes it's own in house modems.

Rating: 1 Votes

nexusrule

15 months ago

Apple margins are the same from 6-7 years , and quite lower than 8+ years ago. It’s numbers there is nothing to discuss about it. They make products that cost more to buy because they cost more to produce. Technologies, materials etc. It’s not greed when you make the same amount of money. If they are too expensive for your pockets I am sorry but it’s childish to say they raise price without reason.

Rating: 1 Votes

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