Apple to Update iPhones in China to Avoid Sales Ban
Apple is pushing out a software update to iPhones in China to address a recent court order obtained by Qualcomm that banned the sale of certain iPhone models in the country. The update will allow the company to continue selling its phones in China, company representatives told Reuters Friday morning.
The Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court in China issued a preliminary injunction against Apple earlier this week, which according to Qualcomm banned the company from selling various iPhone models ranging from the iPhone 6S all the way to the iPhone X, for violating 2 of Qualcomm’s patents.
However, Apple immediately took issue with Qualcomm’s take on the court order, saying that it would be able to continue to sell iPhones in the country. On Friday, Apple told Reuters that it believed it was in compliance with the court order with the iPhones that it was currently selling in China.
Predictably, Qualcomm didn’t agree with that take, with the company’s general counsel telling the news agency that the iPhone maker was violating and disregarding the court order.
This type of he-said-she-said is nothing new for Apple and Qualcomm: The two companies have been fighting in courts around the world for some time. Qualcomm, in essence, argues that Apple isn’t compensating the company for the use of its intellectual property; Apple on the other hand has been alleging that Qualcomm is using invalid patents to demand royalty payments for the use of wireless chipsets.
The irony of the dispute is that both companies are still doing business together: Apple continues to build wireless modems built by Qualcomm into its iPhones. However, The Information reported earlier this week that Apple was increasingly looking to build its own wireless chipsets for the next generation of 5G-capable phones.
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