According to reports, Qualcomm has launched a lawsuit in China, seeking to prohibit Apple in from manufacturing and selling iPhones in China. This is the biggest action the chip manufacturer has taken against APple so far. Both the two sides are playing tough. The ever-expanding judicial “war” shows no signs of stopping. In response, Apple issued a statement that it has been willing to pay a fair and reasonable fee for the patent, but Qualcomm wants an unreasonable amount of money. At the same time, Apple thinks that Qualcomm’s lawsuit will fail.
Qualcomm VS Apple
Apple has proven to be a leader in the smartphone industry. This leadership also had some impacts, both negative and positive. Apple has always been controversial, especially in China.
Also Read: Intel Sides With Apple In The Ongoing Battle With Qualcomm
Qualcomm’s Patent Battle
Qualcomm is the world’s largest smartphone chip maker. It is also the main chip supplier of Apple’s mobile phone. The Qualcomm VS Apple battle may affect Apple more than Qualcomm. Apple filed a patent litigation against Qualcomm in California’s Southern District District Court to prosecute Qualcomm’s monopoly in the wireless chip market and filed a $ 1 billion claim against Qualcomm.
Also Read: Qualcomm Wants Apple Imports To Be Banned
Then shortly after January 25, Apple filed a lawsuit in Beijing Intellectual Property Court and said that Qualcomm abuses the chip industry status, and claimed 1 billion yuan. Qualcomm filed a pleading in April to the US District Court for the Southern District of California and launched a counterclaim against Apple and claimed that without Qualcomm’s technology, the iPhone could not succeed.
Also Read: Apple refuses royalties to Qualcomm
Qualcomm and Apple’s lawsuit has been playing for months, mainly around the high-pass technology licensing business. Although most of Qualcomm’s sales come from cell phone chip manufacturing, the bulk of the profits are from the patent license fees, these patents cover the basis of all modern mobile phone systems. Qualcomm said the suit was based on three non-standard essential patents, covering the power management and the Force Touch screen technology iPhone used. According to Qualcomm spokesmen, these inventions are just a few examples, and there are a lot of high-pass technology used by Apple to improve products and increase profits. Qualcomm hopes to give Apple a blow in China. China is the world’s largest smartphone market. Cutting off its production in China will impact iPhone a lot as most of the current iPhones are produced in China. Apple has nearly two-thirds of revenue from the iPhone.
Also Read: Qualcomm Has Started Working On Snapdragon 855
For Apple, the latest litigation has not come t a good time. Apple’s recent fiscal year sales are $215.6 billion. The Greater China market contributed 22.5%. And Apple has just released the iPhone 8 and X, hoping to re-establish the market leadership, and the rapid growth of China’s local mobile phone manufacturers led to increasingly fierce market competition for Apple. Apple’s suppliers and assembly plants in China are now in full production, hoping to produce as many iPhone as possible before the critical holiday shopping season, so that once the production is under any impact, the price may be high.
Also Read: Apple May Begin Developing PC Processor Independently
Production Capacity Is Not High, The Market Supply Is Insufficient
The iPhone X supply problem has been the focus of industry attention. Capacity problems have been tied to Apple, many users will be worried about the time to get their hands on the phone. Apple unveiled iPhone X in September. KGI’s analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said iPhone’s daily output is less than 10,000. Subsequently, Apple opened pre-orders for iPhone X. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 PLus have already been launched. This clearly signals supply problems. Analysis of the company Rosenblatt research shows that iPhone X production has increased from 100,000 per week to 400,000 per week. Relatively speaking, this is a significant improvement, but even if this figure is accurate, still can not meet the needs of the market.
Also Read: Apple Reported High Net Profits For The Third Quarter
According to Nikkei news, iPhone X production delay is attributed to its camera, the TrueDepth camera system, which an integral part of the phone that can achieve Face ID and Animoji and a series of compelling features.
Mobile Phone Security Problems
More terrible thing is that since the Apple iPhone8 / iPhone8 Plus officially launched, burst accidents have been happening. Two cases of burst incidents were reported in America. In New York, a man charging his iPhone 8 Plus using Qi wireless charging suddenly noticed battery expansion opening the case. In addition, a Reddit user also posted that his father received a new iPhone 8 Plus, and the battery expansion had caused the iPhone case to crack. Coincidentally, some users have also reported smoke emitting from iPhone after the case burst incident. Till now, 10 burst events have been reported.
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Apple has said that it has launched an initial investigation regarding the expansion of the battery but said that it does not pose safety threats. Apple will announce the detailed results once the investigation is complete. This incident reminds us of the Samsung Note 7 debacle when a lot of phones exploded. The burst incidents of iPhone are not as serious as those of Note 7. They can be attributed to a normal range of battery problems. They do not pose a security issue.
Also Read:Galaxy Note 8 VS iPhone 8 Plus: The Ultimate Showdown!
Insiders believe that Apple’s new product burst is neither a design defect, nor is a yield problem, but caused by the use of metal frame and glass back cover. Glass stretching space is relatively small. The glass material and the screen causes cracking. It is not a security threat as the carrying capacity of metal is higher. But it is worth noting that, this is a first for Apple.
Also Read: Dell Announces The Establishment Of Internet Of Things Department
In the face of patent warfare, lack of capacity, “burst” events and other problems, Apple has a lot to worry about.
