Qualcomm Accuses Apple of Handing Its LTE Chipset Secrets to Intel, Letting the Latter Improve Them Considerably

Omar Sohail

While there is no love lost between Qualcomm and Apple, the chipset manufacturer had implicitly extended an olive branch towards the Cupertino giant by reducing the cap on royalties that it charged smartphone makers. However, any hopes of reconciliation have now been stifled as Qualcomm recently accused Apple of fraudulent practices to benefit Intel at the expense of Qualcomm.

Qualcomm Alleges That Apple Engineers Repeatedly Used the Former’s Software to Help Intel’s Engineers Improve the Sluggish Performance of Its Connectivity Chips

The long-standing battle shows no sign of abating as Qualcomm has appealed the court to amend its existing lawsuit to include the fresh charges. The chipmaker alleges that Apple shared its source code and log files with Intel to help the latter improve its existing chips so that orders can be diverted to it from Qualcomm. Starting this year, Apple had stopped using Qualcomm modems in its devices because of the ongoing legal battle.

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Apple had alleged last month that Qualcomm has failed to pinpoint which exact piece of information it has shared with Intel without consent, reasserting that it is has allowed the chipmaker to verify that its software has not been used improperly.

According to Reuters, Qualcomm had long suspected that Apple, which is one of its largest customers, is completely replacing its modem chips with Intel’s and the teardown of the 2018 iPhone lineup has proved just that. Per Qualcomm, Apple has stealthily been providing Intel with the access to its confidential software tools all these years, resulting in a considerable improvement in its sub-par chips and enabling Apple to shift all the orders away from chipset maker.

Apple had previously accused Qualcomm of illegal business practices that are essentially roadblocks to innovation. Qualcomm has not dragged Intel into the legal dispute so far. Meanwhile, this year’s iPhone XS that has only used Intel radio chips, which have come under fire by some users for poor Wi-Fi and LTE performance due to alleged ‘antenna gain issues.’

Apple has yet to comment on Qualcomm’s accusations, but we shall be waiting for their response and updating you guys in the long run.

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News Source: Reuters

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