Apple, Qualcomm Lawsuit: Two New Suits Seek 1 Billion Yuan In Damages

Apple filed lawsuits against telecommunications equipment company Qualcomm in Beijing, accusing it of abusing its position in the chip industry, Reuters reported Wednesday. Apple is seeking $1 billion yuan ($145.32 million USD) in damages.

In a second lawsuit, Apple focuses on patent agreements and alleged the chip supplier failed to live up to promises made to license "standard essential patents" broadly and inexpensively, Beijing's Intellectual Property Court said, according to Reuters .

Qualcomm is a major supplier for Apple and its rival Samsung for modem chips that links devices to wireless networks.

Apple and Samsung made up 40 percent of Qualcomm’s $23.5 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year. Apple used Qualcomm's chips until its latest iPhone 7 generation in last September, when its exclusivity agreement signed from 2011 until 2016 expired.

Qualcomm said in a statement that it had not yet seen the complaints made by Apple.

"These filings by Apple’s Chinese subsidiary are just part of Apple’s efforts to find ways to pay less for Qualcomm's technology,” said Qualcomm Executive Vice President Don Rosenberg. “Apple was offered terms consistent with terms accepted by more than one hundred other Chinese companies and refused to even consider them.”

The chip supplier added it “is prepared to defend its business model anywhere in the world.”

Wednesday’s lawsuits followed Apple’s $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm last Friday, days after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm over patent royalty practices and for allegedly engaging in anticompetitive tactics to ensure its monopoly on a key semiconductor used in mobile phones. Apple also accused the company of overcharging for its chips.

Qualcomm is also being investigated in Europe, Japan and Taiwan for anticompetitive and monopolistic trade practices.