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How does it help Apple to have Qualcomm go down, though?

• tooltalk 9y ago
  Apple's interest here is the patent licensing policy change. Apple has been losing legal battles against wireless patent holders for as long as the iPhones have been around. In their quest to squeeze their wireless suppliers (Nokia, Ericsson, Qualcomm, etc...), Apple has challenged their licensing practices -- ie, royalty rates and basis -- every time their licensing contract was up for renewal, claiming that their licensing practices are in breach of FRAND. Of course, Apple never had any evidence of such violation and lost or settled every lawsuit. Now that it's evident that they can't win in courts, they are trying to convince policy makers/regulators to do it for them. It helps Apple's cause mightily when their largest patent holder is found in violation of anti-trust/competition laws and, contrast to their past policy of letting the market work things out, now Apple's friends in DC and FTC have to implement draconian licensing policies in favor of Apple to better control abuses in wireless patent licensing.
• lagadu 9y ago
  Qualcomm has had a massive monopoly on high-end LTE modems, which Apple has been forced to use and license at however much Qualcomm demands.