Ah ... the patent trolls. While a monstrous lawsuit in the United States with a stake potentially exceeding $ 30 billion, Apple and Qualcomm announce Wednesday, April 17, 2019 they "cancel everything", and they signed an agreement. This one of course puts an end to all the judicial aspects in progress. And supposes the payment of a large sum to Qualcomm (whose exact amount remains secret). The agreement provides for a six-year license agreement that will take effect on April 1, 2019, extendable for two-year periods.
Apple and Qualcomm End Patent War and Sign Agreement
Added a "multi-year" contract for the supply of chips - we imagine for the iPhone. Here's exactly what the two brands' joint statement says: "Qualcomm and Apple today announced an agreement to end all litigation between the two companies around the world. The deal includes a payment from Apple to Qualcomm. The companies also signed a six-year license agreement, effective April 1, 2019, which includes a two-year extension option, and a multi-year chip supply agreement. "
The two brands have been in conflict since January 2017, when Apple began to denounce Qualcomm's licensing model and the price of royalties, deemed "abusive". This was followed by a response from Qualcomm that tried to ban the sale of iPhone in several markets. In parallel, the question arose of the provision of 5G modems for future iPhone - Apple was betting on Intel chips, but the founder has fallen behind, and could not provide chips before the horizon 2020-2021.
The deal between the two firms has had a double effect: the Qualcomm share has jumped 23% on the New York Stock Exchange, and collateral victim of this return to the agreement Intel has immediately announced its intention to abandon the development of 5G modems. Since these will most likely be provided by Qualcomm to believe the little information that filtered on this agreement. This will undoubtedly provide iPhone 5G earlier than expected. But it is probably still too early to say.
