Qualcomm might finally be ready to end its legal skirmish with Apple, which can actually end up going in its favor and we’ll get to that shortly. The chipset manufacturer is prepared to give three concessions to Apple, and other smartphone makers in a bid to resolve the legal battle between the two over the fee Qualcomm charges the iPhone manufacturer for the use of its patented technology and wireless chips.
Latest Move Will See Qualcomm Charge Smartphone Manufacturers far Less When It Comes to License Costs
First of, Qualcomm will enable smartphone manufacturers to opt for a lower-cost license, whereby they will be charged 3.25 percent of the cost of the smartphone, instead of the 5 percent that Apple and other tech giants were paying before.
Secondly, Qualcomm’s 5G patents will come at no additional cost to smartphone manufacturers. This is not only expected to appease the company’s clients but also regulators. As per Qualcomm, they haven’t lowered the rate per se but instead bundled in more intellectual property and technology without increasing the price. The company described the move as ‘regulatory friendly’ and believes that by taking this step, it will ensure stability in the future.
Lastly, the company is fixing the percentage charges, which will be beneficial to smartphone makers that make expensive handsets. Just last week saw Qualcomm announced that the patent fees would be assessed against that first $400 only of the net selling price of a smartphone. Previously, it was capped at $500, a figure that was not publicly revealed before.
A legal battle is currently going on between Qualcomm and Huawei. The company’s patent licensing head, Alex Rogers states that that new terms will help resolve the two licensee issues. As far as Apple is concerned, it has not made any comments regarding this. Perhaps the latest move will ensure the tech giant taps more LTE modem orders from Qualcomm and reduce dependency on Intel in the process.
After the fall out with Apple, Qualcomm has been trying to reduce its operating costs and has also been fined by regulators for anti-competitive business practices.
News Source: Reuters
