At this point Qualcomm should be pretty worried about getting replaced out of Apple hardware, so I suppose key account managers are scrambling to do Apples' bid

At this point Qualcomm should be pretty worried about getting replaced out of Apple hardware, so I suppose key account managers are scrambling to do Apples' bidding, at least to some degree. Apple has so much control over their embedded hardware now, they probably are already working at ridding themselves of everything that stops them from 100% control. This is unparalleled in other hardware/software ecosystems; there, the situation is often much the reverse.