Earlier this month, Qualcomm filed a lawsuit against Apple, seeking to ban the sale and marketing of iPhones in the US, claiming that they infringe upon as many as six of the company"s patents.
Just a few days ago, a lobbying group, called the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), announced that it has aligned itself with Apple because Qualcomm"s lawsuit is damaging to the interests of consumers and would cause "significant shocks to supply" for phones. The group represents major tech companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Samsung, Intel, and Facebook.
However, Qualcomm has now fired back at the CCIA"s stance, saying that it is a "coordinated effort aimed at misdirecting" regulatory authorities. The company further clarified that its efforts to ban the import of iPhones in the US isn"t because of the Intel chips that are utilized in the devices. Rather, the lawsuit concerns the use of Qualcomm"s patented technology in these chips, which are then utilized in current iPhones without the firm"s permission.
As such, Qualcomm says that a ban would not hurt the competition in the long term and that "Apple can purchase and utilize any LTE modem it chooses so long as it does not infringe Qualcomm’s asserted patents". It also noted that other companies including MediaTek and Samsung also provide modems that can be supplied to smartphones.
Apple, on the other hand, has responded to the firm"s arguments, saying that Qualcomm supplies it "with a single connectivity component, but for years have been demanding a percentage of the total cost of our products - effectively taxing Apple"s innovation."
The development in the situation seems to be the latest in Apple and Qualcomm"s seemingly-eternal legal dispute, which includes a string of lawsuits, accusations, and profit slumps.
Source: Reuters