Senior executives at Qualcomm slammed Apple on Wednesday for lawsuits filed in the last week alleging the smartphone chip-maker significantly overcharged it for licensing fees.
The spat saw cases filed last Friday in California and this week in Beijing and were top of mind when Qualcomm conducted an earnings call with analysts on Wednesday.
For 15 minutes, Qualcomm executives criticized Apple’s moves, calling the two lawsuits „without merit“ and accused the iPhone-maker of trying to use them as a way to reduce the royalties the iPhone maker pays to Qualcomm.
„Apple has been actively driving regulatory attacks on Qualcomm’s business in jurisdictions around the world and misrepresenting facts and withholding information,“Qualcomm President Derek Aberle said.
Apple claimed that Qualcomm retaliated because it cooperated with a South Korean government investigation that ultimately saw Qualcomm fined $854 million for unfair licensing practices. Qualcomm vowed to appeal the decision.
Aberle said that Qualcomm did no such thing, and the company objected to Apple making false and misleading statements.