Qualcomm sues Apple for breach of contract to favor Intel

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Qualcomm has sued Apple for alleged breach of contract regarding software licenses. As a result, Apple would have favored Intel with the supply of modems for mobile internet.

Qualcomm has filed suit with the San Diego District Court, Reuters reported. The chip designer claims that Apple has used its market position to demand access to Qualcomm’s confidential software, including the source code. Never before would Apple have demanded such access.

According to Qualcomm, competitor Intel has benefited from the requirements. Apple has been using Intel modems since the release of the iPhone 7, in addition to Qualcomm modems. The lawsuit comes in a week in which rumors emerged that Apple wants to get rid of Qualcomm modems in its iPhones and iPads altogether. That decision would stem from Qualcomm’s move to stop supplying software to Apple to test the chips in prototypes. The chip designer would have stopped this due to a dispute over licenses on patents.

Apple and Qualcomm have since had multiple legal disputes back and forth. The battle with Apple has evaporated Qualcomm’s profits, the company’s quarterly figures showed.

Update, 20.15: According to Bloomberg, Qualcomm claims that Apple let an Intel employee watch when requesting information about Qualcomm software. Apple is said to have done insufficient to protect Qualcomm’s software and not allow an audit to investigate Apple’s handling of the software.

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