Apple Ordered to Retract Part of Press Release in Ongoing Qualcomm Battle

Apple has been ordered to stop using a part of a recent press release that claimed the iPhone 7 and ‌iPhone‌ 8 would still be available in Germany through carriers and resellers, reports Bloomberg.

Apple released the statement following a preliminary injunction in December that prevented the company from selling older iPhones in Germany. Apple at the time said that while it would stop selling the devices at its own retail stores, they would remain available via other means.

qualcomm iphone 7
Qualcomm yesterday got another preliminary injunction to stop Apple from using that statement because it was "misleading." The court's ruling, said Qualcomm, also required Apple to stop offering the ‌iPhone‌ 7 and ‌iPhone‌ 8 via resellers, too, and the court agreed.

"The press release is misleading because it contains statements that are at least potentially deceptive about the availability of the goods," the judges wrote. "The statement conveys the impression of unlimited availability."

Apple has not been selling ‌iPhone‌ 7 and ‌iPhone‌ 8 models in its retail stores or online in Germany since January and prior to the order about the press release, was also ordered to pull iPhones from partner stores. Some German resellers have continued to sell the devices, however.

Apple's newest iPhones, the XR, XS, and XS Max are not affected by the sales and import ban and continue to be available in the country.

Qualcomm also won a preliminary injunction against the ‌iPhone‌ 7 and ‌iPhone‌ 8 in China, but Apple was able to skirt the ruling via a software update that removed patented content.

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Top Rated Comments

Phone Junky Avatar
85 months ago
Qualcomm isn't going to lose a thing. They have a superior product to that of anything else on the market. Intel does not even come close. Not using Qualcomm chips in their products would hurt mobile phone manufactures more than it would Qualcomm because customers would move to a manufacture that uses the much better modem chips. Customers want quality and they know they can get it with Qualcomm chips.
I agree that customers want quality. The thing is, aside from geeks that frequent tech forums such as this, how many iPhone buyers do you think even know what a modem is, let alone who manufactures the one in their phone? We're a small minority of iPhone owners here. Most people don't know or care who make the parts in their phone. As long as it has an Apple logo and it does what they want, they are satisfied.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
apolloa Avatar
85 months ago
Good, typical Apple here, it likes to ignore court rulings with press releases, considering it tried to make a mockery of the UK court ruling to publicly apologise for its mess of a case against Samsung.. the court didn't find it amusing and threatened them with punishment if they didn't do it as instructed... Apple will earn a reputation...
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
laptech Avatar
85 months ago
Well this little stint may cost Apple some but is going to cost Qualcomm a lot more in lost business revenue in the end.
Qualcomm isn't going to lose a thing. They have a superior product to that of anything else on the market. Intel does not even come close. Not using Qualcomm chips in their products would hurt mobile phone manufactures more than it would Qualcomm because customers would move to a manufacture that uses the much better modem chips. Customers want quality and they know they can get it with Qualcomm chips.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bladerunner2000 Avatar
85 months ago
He clearly could have misspoke in a live demo. However it’s no lie they invented their version of multitouch the same as they invented their version of finger print reader, mo3 player etc.

If you don’t agree Apple does not promulgate the idea they “invented everything” we’ll just go around in circles.

Why again is this relevant in this thread!
No, he lied. He didn't misspeak. Jobs spent time rehearsing scripts for the presentations. He clearly lied and meant to lie.

Apple didn't invent their own version of multitouch even if you want to makeup stories; they bought out a company called Fingerworks that already did work on multitouch. Then Jobs claimed THEY themselves invented. Neither Apple nor Fingerworks invented multitouch because again; Bill Buxton invented it in the 80s.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
85 months ago
Qualcomm isn't going to lose a thing. They have a superior product to that of anything else on the market. Intel does not even come close. Not using Qualcomm chips in their products would hurt mobile phone manufactures more than it would Qualcomm because customers would move to a manufacture that uses the much better modem chips. Customers want quality and they know they can get it with Qualcomm chips.
No need for a Ferrari when a BMW can get you there as well.
Qualcomm modems might be the better ones but I have no troubles with my Intel modem in my Xs, why don't people see this, there's no need for a 0.01 second faster browser download on an iPhone.

As for your "Qualcomm isn't going to lose a thing." comment, let's wait and see, they already lost Apple as a client, billions lost, they also will lose the licensing "stuff", they play it dirty, it will be downhill from here and on.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
85 months ago
Makes sense. It seems Apple is trying to fight the PR war. Better to just acknowledge the loss and move on.

Qualcomm had been granted its request for "a recall and destruction of all accused devices from all retailers in Germany."
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)