by Jason Snell
Apple rebuffed when trying to buy Qualcomm chips
The details in the ongoing Apple-Qualcomm spat continue to amaze. This, via Shara Tibken of CNET:
Apple wanted to use Qualcomm’s 4G LTE processors in its newest iPhones, but the chipmaker wouldn’t sell to it, Apple’s operating chief testified Monday… [Jeff Williams] said he contacted Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf to get him to sell chips to Apple. When Qualcomm refused, Apple had to call Intel’s CEO at the time, Brian Krzanich, to ask him to supply all modems needed for the iPhone instead of only half the volume.
Think about it. As fierce competitors with outstanding patent lawsuits against one another, Apple and Samsung continued to work together as partners on other fronts. This Apple-Qualcomm situation seems several levels more poisonous. And Apple will get to 5G later than other major phone-makers as a result.1
- 5G roll-outs are going to be slow, so in the end it probably won’t be a huge functional loss for iPhone buyers, but it’s a major marketing loss for Apple at a time when scrutiny of iPhone sales will be at an all-time high. ↩