In the ongoing legal spat over patents between Apple and Qualcomm, the chipmaker is calling on the US International Trade Commission to block the import of iPhones manufactured in Asia – which is just about all of them – from getting into the US.
Qualcomm appears to be responding to Apple’s decision to stop paying any licence fees on Qualcomm chips until the patent dispute is settled. Qualcomm said Apple’s decision will hit its upcoming third-quarter sales by around US$500 million.
However, any action by the chipmaker will probably dash any hopes of Qualcomm providing future modem chips in the iPhone.
Qualcomm had been the sole supplier of modems going into the iPhone for several years until Intel started showing up in versions of the iPhone 7 released last year. Analysts tip Intel will take up an increasing percentage of modems, which is an expensive component, in upcoming iPhones.
