There is a current multi billion dollar licensing dispute going on between Qualcomm and Apple. The dispute stems from an Apple law suit in January where Apple sued Qualcomm for over-charging. Qualcomm counter-sued for breach of terms. Until an official court decision is made Apple has decided to hault the payment of licensing fees to Qualcomm which they have paid in the past. The licensing fee is for fundamental wireless patents that Qualcomm owns. These patents apply to all cell phones whether or not they include a Qualcomm chip. Qualcomm expects to make half a billion dollars less than normal during the next quarter due to Apple not paying their licensing fees. If Apple can get away with this why should other manufacturers be inclined to pay these licensing fees as well. As you can see Qualcomm is at risk of losing multiple billions of dollars over this.
Qualcomm does not intend to miss out on these royalties until the court decision is made. They are currently preparing an appeal to the ITC to have the sales of the iPhone banned in the US. This is coming just in time for the launch of Apple's brand new flagship phone. The ITC ban would likely only be temporary until the court dispute is settled, but would surely be disastrous for Apple if they had to miss out on their 10th year anniversary phone launch. Qualcomm has decided to start with the US as this is Apple's most lucrative market, but there are many other markets they could seek a ban in if the US ban fails. Apple seems to think they are in the right here and don't seem to think the ITC will Ban their phones. They faced a similar situation with Samsung over a licensing dispute in the past. This should be interesting to watch at the very least.
via Bloomberg
