Apple Wanted To Use Qualcomm Chips For Its 2018 iPhones, But Qualcomm Refused Because of Companies' Licensing Dispute (cnet.com)

Apple's operating chief said on Monday that Qualcomm refused to sell its 4G LTE processors to the company due to the companies' licensing dispute. According to CNET, that decision "had a ripple effect on how quickly Apple can make the shift to 5G." From the report: Qualcomm continues to provide Apple with chips for its older iPhones, including the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Apple COO Jeff Williams testified Monday during the US Federal Trade Commission's trial against Qualcomm. But it won't provide Apple with processors for the newest iPhones, designed since the two began fighting over patents, he said. And Williams believes the royalty rate Apple paid for using Qualcomm patents -- $7.50 per iPhone -- is too high.

The FTC has accused Qualcomm of operating a monopoly in wireless chips, forcing customers like Apple to work with it exclusively and charging excessive licensing fees for its technology. The FTC has said that Qualcomm forced Apple to pay licensing fees for its technology in exchange for using its chips in iPhones. The trial kicked off Jan. 4 in US District Court in San Jose, California. Testimony covers negotiations and events that occurred before March 2018 and can't encompass anything after that date. Apple is expected to only use Intel chips in its next iPhones, something that will make Apple late to the market for 5G phones. "By the 2019 holiday season, every major Android vendor in the U.S. will have a 5G phone available," reports CNET. "But Intel's 5G modem isn't expected to hit phones until 2020."

Comments

I for one...

[Anonymous Coward]

Am super ampathetic toward a company with such a stringent stance on any sort of openness to its own ecosystem.. having to play by anothers rules based on protecting their own ip...

2019 will not see widespread 5G rollouts

[ITRambo]

5G will be limited to cities and areas of concentrated populations. I expect the 5G roll-out, to consumers, won't begin in earnest until the big ISP's determine how costly it actually will be. This won't hurt Apple very much at all. "Wait 'till next year" - Ernie Banks

Specialists are better at first

[SuperKendall]

What? You don't think companies that specialize in a specific area are better at it than generalists?

That depends.

I agree that specialists can be better.

But don't you think it's also true with that specialists without strong competition can grow weak and lazy until suddenly someone comes along with better tech?

That's kind of where I feel like Qualcomm is at, yes they are clearly the best now, but I'm not at all sure it's impossible to dethrone them.

And there have to be many other companies besides Apple chafing at the bit for a strong competitor so Qualcom cannot hold cell phone makers hostage (not talking just Apple here)...

So please, do take it inhouse to save just $2 off of a $1200 phone.

The cost is not at all why, since with R&D costs it would probably cost way more.

The reason would be is if you could provide equivalent or superior quality of service in your own part, without being at the whims of a chip maker who has proven they are willing to withhold supply... and of course there's the matter of being sure as to what supply could be, rather than being taken out by a sudden shortage.