It seems that legal spat between Apple and Qualcomm has entered its final phase as tech giants such as Intel, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook have sided with Apple ditching Qualcomm. The companies have filed their comments in the International Trade Center (ITC) and argued that forcing Apple to not import iPhones that use Intel Corp chips rather than using Qualcomm chips would harm the supply of phones on very large scale.
Apple and Qualcomm have been fighting the legal spat for the past seven months, however, just recently Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf has said that out of court settlement with Apple is still possible. And now with big tech giants one by one siding with Apple it seems a deal between Qualcomm and Apple is not out of question.
The legal spat started when Apple filed a case against Qualcomm accusing the chipmaking company of using its position to over charge basic patents. After which Qualcomm counter sued Apple alleging the mobile manufacturing company of breaching several agreements.
Also read: Qualcomm is trying to get iPhones banned from being sold
Moving onward, Qualcomm’s rival company Intel has also spoken against Qualcomm and argued that non-competitive behavior of Qualcomm is not a good sign for chipmaking industry.
Intel’s filing states, “Qualcomm did not initiate this investigation to stop the alleged infringement of its patent rights; rather, its complaint is a transparent effort to stave off lawful competition from Qualcomm’s only remaining rival. This twisted use of the Commission’s process is just the latest in a long line of anticompetitive strategies that Qualcomm has used to quash incipient and potential competitors and avoid competition on the merits.”
Furthermore, legal spat with Apple is hurting Qualcomm a lot. Shares of the chipmaking Qualcomm are down nearly 20%.
