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Qualcomm Sues Apple For Contract Breach (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the tussle-continues dept.

Qualcomm has sued Apple, again, this time alleging that it violated a software license contract to benefit rival chipmaker Intel for making broadband modems, the latest salvo in a longstanding dispute between the two companies. From a report: Qualcomm alleged in a lawsuit filed in the California state court in San Diego on Wednesday that Apple used its commercial leverage to demand unprecedented access to the chipmaker's highly confidential software, including source code. Apple began to use Intel's broadband modem chips in the iPhone 7, which it launched last year.

5 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Qualcomm Always Expensive and Proprietary by thebes · · Score: 4, Informative

    Qualcomm has always been perceived as (and actually been) expensive and proprietary in the telecom world, so this should be no surprise when someone else comes to the market for a better price. Apple can probably easily pay to defend this suit purely based on the financial savings of switching to Intel.

    1. Re:Qualcomm Always Expensive and Proprietary by thebes · · Score: 3, Informative

      One acronym: CDMA
      Another acronym: UMB

      Qualcomm got where they got today in part due to their CDMA modem patent revenue. UMB was Qualcomm's proprietary replacement for CDMA that was intended to compete with LTE.

      Luckily, the general industry smartened up and went with a partnership standard like 3GPP2. As CDMA support dwindles around the world, Qualcomm is just taking larger and larger hits to their bottom line, relative to what they were before.

  2. Don't innovate? by haunebu · · Score: 2, Informative

    They literally invented CDMA, the foundational technology for 3G, and developed an outsized portion of both LTE and the forthcoming 5G network standards & protocols. If you don't like them for whatever reason, that's fine. But an entire industry has been created thanks to their research & development efforts. To say they don't innovate would be asinine.

    --

    Blue skies, Barthy Burgers, girls...

    1. Re:Don't innovate? by thebes · · Score: 3, Informative

      -1 troll

      CDMA did not merge with TDMA, GSM, etc. CDMA died a rightful death due to its patent and licensing encumbrance.

  3. Re:Qualcomm needs to go away by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    Bullshit, if it weren't for qualcomm we wouldn't have the likes of 3G and 4G services we have today and the coming 5G services. They are the ones actually doing the innovating, unlike apple who patents a fucking rounded corner. And good luck to apple switching to intel's crummy base-band chip sets. Slow power hungry pieces of shit is what they are. Apple will still be putting money in qualcomm's pocket though the patent royalties that intel has to pay qualcomm. And if apple thinks they are going to design their own base-band chip set, they're going to be paying qualcomm royalties directly again.

    As for qualcomm not giving apple low level documentation, code and software for their chipsets. hmm, that sounds an aughful lot like what apple does to all the 3rd party repair shops that try and repair their products. Pot calling kettle black.

    Good watch about this.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRpujjwukMY