Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said today on the company’s call accompanying its first-quarter earnings report that Qualcomm would continue to work with Apple as a supplier despite a major legal battle between the two companies.
“We intend to remain a good supplier to Apple even while this dispute continues,” Mollenkopf said on the call. “Our preference is to resolve customer disputes with negotiation instead of litigation, so it’s regrettable Apple has taken this path.”
In terms of actually continuing working with Apple, Qualcomm executives explained that the deals it has in place are with their contract manufacturers. Qualcomm has signed agreements with those manufacturers, which the company expects to continue to uphold, though Qualcomm president Derek Aberle said the company would have to take a “wait-and-see” approach for the future.
“We would expect and hope that our licensees will continue to comply with their agreements and Apple will not interfere with those contractual agreements in place,” Aberle said on the call. “We obviously can’t control their actions down the road so we’ll have to see how that develops.
