Qualcomm is a monopoly, has to renegotiate deals, US Court rules

23 May 2019
The company’s practices “have strangled competition in the CDMA and premium LTE modem chip market”.

Sort by:

I'm a Trump supporter and loving the news. This means cheaper Android flagships for now on! We should never buy $1000+ flagship phones ever again. Let's go back to the $500 days from 2013. These devices are pretty much disposable every 2-3 years. We shouldn't be paying a grand for them anymore.

    Phone Reviewer, 23 May 2019First the US government blocks Huawei, then the US Court bl... moreApple is not a monopoly though

      Adul Al Salami Kebab, 23 May 2019Qualcomm has one competitor and that is Huawei... V-VNot really, since Huawei doesn't sell it's chipsets to others

        • H
        • Huawei
        • mT@
        • 23 May 2019

        Adul Al Salami Kebab, 23 May 2019Qualcomm has one competitor and that is Huawei... V-VWhich is dead

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • 803
          • 23 May 2019

          and google, facebook, microsoft.. are not monopoly?

            So, they did nothing for years when it matters, and now that CDMA is on its way out they decide to do something? Nothing but BS.

              • A
              • Adul Al Salami Kebab
              • nrX
              • 23 May 2019

              Phone Reviewer, 23 May 2019First the US government blocks Huawei, then the US Court bl... moreQualcomm has one competitor and that is Huawei... V-V

                • A
                • Adul Al Salami Kebab
                • nrX
                • 23 May 2019

                It is now thanks to them completely crippling Huawei! O3O

                  AnonD-800802, 23 May 2019LMFAO...why must fandroids bring up Apple every single time... moreIf you read the article it mentions Apple.

                  "Many of the indictments were part of a dispute between Qualcomm and Apple as well, but the two companies had an out-of-court agreement in the wake of 5G arrival, effectively putting Intel out of the race for gigabit speeds in mobile phones."

                  So him mentioning Apple is fine it relates to the article.

                    BigMillions, 23 May 2019If you want to win a case where Apple is a stakeholder, jus... moreI agree.
                    She has the tendency to favour apple.
                    She ruled in favour to apple in the case between apple and Samsung in the past. Even the claim from apple was ridiculous.
                    She's not fit to be a judge. She's probably just a product of feminism nowadays.
                    I wonder how much money she, or her husband, or her kids receive from apple to always favour them like that.

                      • D
                      • AnonD-800802
                      • tAG
                      • 23 May 2019

                      Phone Reviewer, 23 May 2019First the US government blocks Huawei, then the US Court bl... moreLMFAO...why must fandroids bring up Apple every single time? Blind hatred is so comical I love it.

                        • B
                        • Bewildered
                        • StU
                        • 23 May 2019

                        "The court ruled that Qualcomm must stop its practices of bundling licenses with hardware."

                        Two things to reduce the above article to its basic points and marry in earlier articles for those playing catch up

                        First royalty rates are too high

                        Intel did not become Apples supplier of SoC as Intel would have to pay Qualcomm royalty making chip production uneconomical i.e literally receiving cents for the $
                        What Apple pays Intel, Intel pays Qualcomm

                        Second Apple prior to Intel wanted to manufacture it's own SoC factory building etc
                        Apple in any event would still have to pay Qualcomm

                        As you can see Qualcomm are saying if you want a licence you have to buy Qualcomm

                        What the Judge has said is too high and can't say you have to buy only Qualcomm

                        Qualcomm will have to adhere to "FRAND"

                        Apple have signed a 7 year deal with Qualcomm, had Apple not signed this deal a month ago Apple could go Intel and Intel could commercially do this

                        Qualcomm revenue will decrease all phone manufacturer will pay less
                        Any phone manufacturer can to another chip maker to make its own version of say Snapdragon 845

                        Everyone who pays Qualcomm now will still have to pay Qualcomm but less, either directly or indirectly if the SoC had Qualcomm patented technology
                        Qualcomm will imo lose any and all Appeals
                        Qualcomm customer vase won't shrink by one customer except all customers will pay less

                        The Judge has out a 7 year monitor strategy in place.

                          First the US government blocks Huawei, then the US Court blocks Qualcomm, is this even capitalism or democracy any more? More like fascism, where your rulers tell you what to use. It's very clear here what's their purpose, they want Apple to win, as they blocked their competitors while sparing them. Why not say Apple is the monopoly? They obviously are and they are soo much bigger than any other company here.

                            If you want to win a case where Apple is a stakeholder, just avoid judge Lucy H. Koh. She's a disgrace to the tech industry not only in the US but globally. They should appeal to have a different judge sit in for this case.

                              Actually, they're right. The cost of Qualcomm processors are doubling every year, and I believe that the snapdragon 855 is the costliest processor of the lot. That, coupled with Qualcomm modems increases the cost.

                              But what the US government did to Huawei is Trump's problem. He seems to have made it personal by blocking them completely, that they can't make their processors using the ARM architecture. Only the ARM arch is used for Android, hence it's not easy using the x86 arch like Asus did with the Zenfone older models.

                                • k
                                • kova4a
                                • 0B2
                                • 23 May 2019

                                So now the US has started controlling intellectual property as it sees fit. Qualcomm's technology is proprietary and they can do whatever they want with it. Well, at least they are setting a legal precedent. If I was a big company I would file a claim against Apple on the same grounds and see how they are going to justify not upholding the decision against Qualcomm

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • 0wY
                                  • 23 May 2019

                                  Intel is getting a lot of help to become a player - the US courts blocking Qualcomm and US gov blocking Huawei.

                                    • M
                                    • M.G.
                                    • s8h
                                    • 23 May 2019

                                    Just Amercian things

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • mE0
                                      • 23 May 2019

                                      Quote from this article which sounds just like what US government is doing to Huawei, too much competition so they are trying to reduce the playing field


                                      The ruling stated that the company’s practices “have strangled competition”

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • NgC
                                        • 23 May 2019

                                        Does this means xiaomi phones will be cheaper And other companies profit will be higher?