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Apple Sues Qualcomm for $1B, Alleging Extortion

forbes.com

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Re: Apple Sues Qualcomm for $1B, Alleging Extortion

#4

Post by kogepathic »

From my understanding almost every phone with CDMA uses a Qualcomm chip.

So why was CDMA adopted if there was only one supplier of the technology?

Telco's and manufacturers hate to have one supplier of anything, because it means the supplier can haul them over a barrel. Sounds like Apple's complaint is that they overpaid Qualcomm for CDMA components (among other things) after they introduced a CDMA iPhone.

So why was CDMA adopted at all if Qualcomm controls the patents and (seemingly) is the sole/dominant supplier of CDMA modems?

CDMA doesn't seem to be better than GSM in any technical respect.

Re: Apple Sues Qualcomm for $1B, Alleging Extortion

#5

Post by uxp »

kogepathic wrote: post #4

From my understanding almost every phone with CDMA uses a Qualcomm chip. So why was CDMA adopted if there was only one supplier of the technology? Telco's and manufacturers hate to have one supplier of anything, because it means the supplier can haul them over a barrel. Sounds like Apple's complaint is that they overpaid Qualcomm for CDMA components (among other things) after they introduced a CDMA iPhone. So why was…

The article points out that Apple did switch to an Intel manufactured modem at one point, but they allege Qualcomm retaliated by withholding a rebate payment to Apple. I'm assuming that Qualcomm has a list price for their chips, but negotiates a rebate on that price if a contract is fulfilled, or some other generic business promise is arranged.

It also goes on to suggest that the portion of payment Qualcomm received from each phone sold is a percentage of the retail or wholesale price of the phone, pointing out that increasing the storage capacity of a phone from 128GB to 256GB, which I assume does not alter the bill of materials supplied by Qualcomm in any way, results in a larger payment to Qualcomm. Your point that Apple should not have developed a CDMA phone makes sense, but it also means that millions of people would be stuck on a network without an iPhone. Apple got so much shit from the public for having an exclusivity agreement with AT&T here in the states, which in large part drove early jailbreaking progress to open the carrier lock, that it makes good business sense to try and reach those potential customers. I would imagine that Apple reluctantly agreed to a contract for CDMA modems that was less than favorable to Apple in hopes of renegotiating at a later date when Apple became more of a dominant customer, and has since failed in all of their tactics.

Re: Apple Sues Qualcomm for $1B, Alleging Extortion

#8

Post by openmosix »

kogepathic wrote: post #4

From my understanding almost every phone with CDMA uses a Qualcomm chip. So why was CDMA adopted if there was only one supplier of the technology? Telco's and manufacturers hate to have one supplier of anything, because it means the supplier can haul them over a barrel. Sounds like Apple's complaint is that they overpaid Qualcomm for CDMA components (among other things) after they introduced a CDMA iPhone. So why was…

There's a part of me that "enjoys" this. When patents hit small fishes - like X-Plane - (and for no reason), nobody seems to care. When a $630B company pays too much in patent royalties, it's big news. Perhaps Apple could deploy parts of its capital towards changing the system, but for everyone - not just for their fees.

Re: Apple Sues Qualcomm for $1B, Alleging Extortion

#9

Post by kelukelugames »

ensiferum wrote: post #7

Can we please stop posting this ad-blocker blocked shit? Thanks.

I didn't know forbes blocks ad block. I dislike pay wall links but we post those. And the mods chime in when people complain. Maybe one of them can make a verdict here too.
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