Apple iPhones are getting banned
So Apple and Qualcomm have been locked in
a long-running battle over patents and royalties
that has played out in courts worldwide.
A week ago, Apple faced a ban in China that
prevented them from selling every iPhone from
the iPhone 6S through the iPhone X from store
shelves.
Apple violated some of Qualcomm's software
patents in China and hence the ban.
But, Apple issued a software update in the
hopes of addressing the disputed Qualcomm
technology.
It's now up to Chinese courts to determine
if the update was enough to avoid the sales
ban.
Now, a German court has ruled that certain
iPhones violate one of Qualcomm's numerous
patent.
Therefore, Apple is now banned from selling
certain iPhones in Germany.
Unlike China's ban, which Apple could potentially
solve with a software update, the case in
Germany is different.
It's totally hardware based.
So Apple can't do much here.
They've already stopped selling iPhone 7 and
8 models from their retail stores in Germany
until this issue is resolved.
By the way, Qualcomm is seeking a ban on some
iPhones because Apple violated one of Qualcomm's
patents around so-called envelope tracking,
a feature that helps mobile phones save battery
power while sending and receiving wireless
signals.
Apple uses a combination of Intel and Qorvo
components for their chipsets.
And Qorvo is the one who violated this patent.
Anyway, as a result of all of this, Apple's
shares have spiraled down with one of the
steepest declines on record for the company.
Apple's shares hit the lowest in 3 years.
Note that, Apples primary source of income
is the iPhone, sales drop enough and their
other sources of income cannot make up for
it.
Not to mention their other income is highly
dependent on the success of the iPhone.
iPhone sales drop and fewer people pay for
Apple services causing revenue to fall more.
Meanwhile most Android OEMs do not rely on
their mobile division to stay profitable.
Many could exit the mobile industry and keep
on going in their other industries.
Apple leaves mobile and they've got nothing
but the Mac to fall on.
So these iPhone bans is a big deal to them.
Note that Apple has already designed out Qualcomm
modems in favor of Intel, but still requires
a license from Qualcomm because both the Intel
modems and other aspects of the iPhone uses
many of Qualcomm's patents even with the transition
to 5G, which Apple is trailing a year behind
other smartphone OEMs in launching.
So yeah, the only way for Apple to ditch Qualcomm
altogether is by developing their own custom
modem chips, but that project will take years
to bear any fruit.
That said, let me know your thoughts on this
down in the comments and I'll see you'll tomorrow...Peace
out!