Apple And Qualcomm Duke It Out, $1B At Stake

Global mobile processor chip maker Qualcomm recently got hit with a lawsuit by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for supposedly strong-arming Apple into an unfair deal. Now, Apple is joining in with its own lawsuit and kicking up a storm of dirty laundry between the two companies.

The iPhone maker is suing Qualcomm for $1 billion over allegations that the chip maker was overcharging Apple for its processors, as well as not paying rebates equal to the amount being pursued, Reuters reports. This runs in line with what the FTC’s own charges against the largest provider of mobile processor chips in the world.

As for why Qualcomm decided to hold off paying the $1 billion in rebates that it owed Apple, the lawsuit states that it was because of Apple’s decision to speak with the Fair Trade Commission of South Korea. The American tech giant was having discussions with the antitrust regulators at the agency, which likely had something to do with its beef with Qualcomm.

"If that were not enough, Qualcomm then attempted to extort Apple into changing its responses and providing false information to the KFTC in exchange for Qualcomm's release of those payments to Apple. Apple refused," the lawsuit reads.

In response to the suit, the General Counsel of Qualcomm, Don Rosenberg dismissed the claims as being baseless. According to him, Apple has been actively encouraging agencies to go after his client’s business for years via misleading information.

Aside from the legal kerfuffle that the lawsuits are kicking up, the outcome of this battle will also have a significant impact on Qualcomm’s pricing practices in the future, Market Watch reports. Qualcomm has spent years setting up the pricing standards for companies that want to use its patented technologies via licenses. Analysts are emphasizing that the case between Apple and Qualcomm is not clear-cut, but the impact of its results will be huge.