Apple and Qualcomm abandon all lawsuits in a surprise arrangement, after a day of hearing



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The legal battle that has pitted Apple Qualcomm for years has finally ended yesterday in a San Diego courtroom. A jury of six men and three women was hearing preliminary pleas from Apple and Qualcomm when news of an agreement was announced. The trial that began the day before resulted in a surprise arrangement between the 2 technology gloves, stating that Qualcomm will provide Apple parts for several years, which probably means that its modems will appear again in the iPhone.

The agreement also includes the fact that Apple will make a Qualcomm payment for an undisclosed amount of a six-year license agreement including a two-year extension option. The reconciliation of these two companies does not settle at all the business of Intel who had become the sole supplier of chips for Apple's iPhone for a year because of the conflict that intensified with Qualcomm. Moreover, a few hours after the announcement of this arrangement between Qualcomm and Apple, Intel has announced its intention to withdraw from the market of modems chips.

This arrangement could also have an impact on the Chinese company Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, which is also in licensing conflict with Qualcomm. Analysts generally believe that Huawei was monitoring the outcome of the Apple case to badess its negotiating position. Following the announcement of this deal, the value of Qualcomm shares has risen by more than 20%, while that of Apple's shares has increased little.

This agreement, which is obviously the advantage of Qualcomm, has not been well received by everyone and critics argue that it is an abuse of the dominant position of Qualcomm in the wireless chip market . By signing this agreement, the two companies may have wanted to avoid disclosing secrets publicly in court, because while the leaders of both companies were preparing to testify, rumors hinted that shattering revelations could be made.

It may be recalled that this legal battle dates back to 2017, when Apple claimed that Qualcomm charged unreasonably high fees for essential patents and used its position as the dominant provider of smartphone modems to demand these exorbitant prices. In the meantime, Qualcomm sued Apple for patent infringement in courts around the world. Qualcomm has also obtained a favorable decision from a Chinese court in December 2018 and an Apple ban to sell older iPhones in Germany in January of this year.

This agreement puts an end to all ongoing disputes between the world Qualcomm and Apple including Apple's subcontractors. Qualcomm and Apple did not know when their new supply agreement would come into effect, but it is almost certain that this would help Qualcomm regain the leading position it occupied in the early 2010s as it dominated the transition to 4G mobile networks. .

Source: Reuters, Apple

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