Earlier in the week, San Diego-based chipmaker Qualcomm had a suit filed against it by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for unfair business practices. Today, Apple is now suing the company for $1 billion.
Even if you are only mildly interested in smartphones or other mobile devices, chances are you’ve heard the name Qualcomm before. Its technology can be found in a variety of different products on the market today and it also holds many patents for various cellular technologies.
So it comes as no surprise that brands like Samsung, LG, Sony, Motorola, and more rely on Qualcomm a great deal not only for its chips but also licensing deals. As mentioned previously, the FTC found that Qualcomm had been conducting some odd business, granting special rebates to companies like Apple in return for exclusively using its technology in its products. The problem stems from Qualcomm attempting to strong arm those same companies and penalizing them if they chose to work with other companies by not issuing the aforementioned rebates.
This is the official statement that was provided by Apple to the media:
Qualcomm will undoubtedly protect itself to the best of its ability, but this will more than likely become a very curious case that will unfold during the course of the year.
Source: Forbes | Image via Qualcomm<\/p>\n