Four days ago, we reported that the United States’ Federal Trade Commission lodged a complaint against Qualcomm Inc. over anti-competitive tactics. The makers of the beloved Snapdragon processors have already had to pay penalties in China and South Korea over the same issues and, after the complaints by the FTC, it seems like things are going to escalate even further.
Apple is coming after Qualcomm Inc.
Check out the full statement sent to our source, Mashable:
For many years Qualcomm has unfairly insisted on charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with. The more Apple innovates with unique features such as TouchID, advanced displays, and cameras, to name just a few, the more money Qualcomm collects for no reason and the more expensive it becomes for Apple to fund these innovations. Qualcomm built its business on older, legacy, standards but reinforces its dominance through exclusionary tactics and excessive royalties. Despite being just one of over a dozen companies who contributed to basic cellular standards, Qualcomm insists on charging Apple at least five times more in payments than all the other cellular patent licensors we have agreements with combined.
To protect this business scheme Qualcomm has taken increasingly radical steps, most recently withholding nearly $1B in payments from Apple as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them.
Apple believes deeply in innovation and we have always been willing to pay fair and reasonable rates for patents we use. We are extremely disappointed in the way Qualcomm is conducting its business with us and unfortunately after years of disagreement over what constitutes a fair and reasonable royalty we have no choice left but to turn to the courts.
Qualcomm has since then commented on the statement from the Cupertino-based company, calling them baseless and meritless; adding that the complaint filed by the FTC was due to Apple misinterpreting facts and withholding information.
Will Qualcomm Inc. have to pay a huge chunk of change yet again? We’ll see, but they are open to duking it out with Apple in a courtroom.
Read:
Qualcomm Faces Charges in the US
Qualcomm Faces a $854 Million Fine in South Korea for Allegedly Violating Anti-Trust Laws
