Taiwanese manufactures have joined Appleās legal battle against Qualcomm, claiming the chipmaker violates anti-trust laws and charges steep fees for patent licenses.
In July, Qualcomm asked the US government to ban new iPhones from coming into the country; The United States Federal Trade Commission sued Qualcomm for anti-competitive practices.
Qualcomm was Appleās primary supplier for smartphone modems, yet they didnāt have a direct patent deal; instead, Apple paid licensing fees to Foxconn Technology, Compal Electronics, Pegatron Qualcomm and Wistron Corp, who directly paid Qualcomm.
Apple stopped making payments to the four manufactures after suing Qualcomm in January for US$1billion, making the āmanufactures involvement in the legal tussle seemingly inevitableā.
Qualcomm said in a recent statement that it ānever withheld or threatened to withhold chip supply in order to obtain agreement to unfair or unreasonable licensing termsā.
The multinational technology company is said to be filing a separate motion to strengthen the manufacturerās countersuit with its own, according toĀ The Verge.
Written by Leah Alger