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

Friday January 18, 2019 10:28 am PST by Juli Clover
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 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.

Tag: Qualcomm
[ 43 comments ]


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Phone Junky
26 weeks 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.
Rating: 6 Votes
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laptech
26 weeks 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.
Rating: 5 Votes
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apolloa
26 weeks 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...
Rating: 5 Votes
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justperry
26 weeks 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.
Rating: 3 Votes
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bladerunner2000
26 weeks 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.
Rating: 3 Votes
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iGeek2014
26 weeks ago

Really? Wireless charging was available on toothbrushes in the 1960s. While I don’t expect millennials to know that people should take their head out of the sand.


I’m a “Millennial” and I hate it when people act like Apple came along with certain technologies and features first when other manufacturers got there ages ago.
Rating: 2 Votes
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the-msa
26 weeks ago

This is the dumbest thing I read all day. Most consumers don’t have a clue what’s in the phone. They either want an iPhone on android. Most people are not going to leave the iOS ecosystem because of a modem

most iPhone users (or potential customers) i talk to (i do that daily) think that wireless charging is new and an invention by apple.
Rating: 2 Votes
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ilikewhey
26 weeks ago
they might have to settle since no good words about intel's 5G atm.
Rating: 2 Votes
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JPack
26 weeks 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."
Rating: 2 Votes
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LordVic
26 weeks ago

If we only want to based things at the root level only, then lets also then say noting is really inveted anymore, because we all copy from everyone else... too

There is a different between invented for the masses, and invented "for iPhone" which was Tim was going for... When mention TouchID, you don't announce someone else's credit on stage at YOUR event.. Its looks bad saying "i' not giving credit here", but we know all its not from Apple..

Samsung displays are used in iPhone, but Tim wan' announce they bit on stage. It's not a lie, as there is proof out there IF users wanna look it up. Tim doesn't seem t think that would be a main concern of WWDC attendees to know who makes this display ? Why would they care? It's not like they would not create apps for iPhone, because "Tim said on stage out displays are made by Samsung"

I don't think that really matters when it comes to developing.



you and the original thread are confusing words.

"INVENT" an "INNOVATE" are sometimes used incorrectly and use din place of one another.


When something is invented. it's a first. there is no other before. To create or design something that has not existed before.

When something is innovated it's change, updated, or modified to accomplish something in a new or unique way.



Apple did NOT invent multi-touch nor it's derivatives no matter how you want to spin it. Apple bought a multi-touch technology that already existed and innovated it's use into a smartphone.


to use the word Invent in this context would be lying. To use the word innovate in this context would be truthful.

trying to say something is "invented for the masses" vs "Invented for the iPhone" is misleading. And this was likely the intention behind the original push of "Boy did we patent it" with the attempt to mislead without outright lying that many of the innovations that Apple did, were their inventions.

Apple was always a great innovator. However, if you look through Apple's history, they rarely ever invented.

you are right that no company gets on stage at their own events and hands over credit to their competitors. that's foolish. But it's also ethically questionable to try and imply credit to yourself if it's not the full truth.
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I agree, he’s reaching. Steve Jobs’ lying was extreme and famous, he lied to himself especially. His entire “reality distortion field” is grounded in it. Problem is, he didn’t know it was a lie, he was delusional. Doesn’t matter how many times he practiced the speech, Steve was not the type of man to listen to anyone in Apple telling him it’s not real. His belief in his delusions was strong enough that it made others believe it too.

To an outsider it might be a lie, to him, it’s the truth. Just a matter of view. Personally I wouldn’t call a delusional person a liar, because a lie literally must be intentional. Still, I can see how they could be perceived as one. Ultimately it’s a matter of semantics / perspective.

I'm sorry, I don't pass of lies as just delusion to hand wave them away.

in fact, it's almost even more troubling. Because a Delusion is just a lie one has convinced himself of. if one cannot tell his own lies from truth, that is a serious problem.

I don't know if Jobs was delusional. That's some armchair psychology. its best not to do so. But you are right that Steve Jobs, for the pedestal everyone wants to put him on, had a history of lieing if it suited him or Apple. He lied about the industry when it suited him, heck, he even lied about his daughter for a short while and originally told her she wasn't his.

anyone who claims he didn't lie to serve his interest might very well be delusional. But then again, lets not armchair diagnose :p
Rating: 2 Votes

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