Apple seeks to offset Chinese ‘iPhone ban’ by boosting production by exempt supplier Pegatron

“Apple is in talks to shift production of older iPhones to a key Taiwanese supplier in a bid to avoid the loss of billions in revenue in China as a result of a long-running global patent row with Qualcomm of the U.S.,” Nikkei Asian Review reports.
“A court in the southern Chinese city of Fuzhou ruled on Monday that Apple had infringed two of Qualcomm’s software patents,” Nikkei Asian Review reports. “However, smartphones produced by Pegatron, which is one of Apple’s three major iPhone assemblers along with Foxconn and Wistron, are exempt from the ban, according to documents seen by the Nikkei Asian Review.”
“Sources close to the matter said the exemption was due to the fact that Pegatron, on behalf of Apple, paid a fee to license the contested software, unlike Foxconn and Wistron,” Nikkei Asian Review reports. “One of the sources with direct knowledge of the situation said Apple had held initial discussions with Pegatron about whether the Taiwan-based company could take on more iPhone production to make up for the impact of the ban. No decision has yet been taken, however. Apple has also said it could implement software updates “to address any possible concern about our compliance with the order,” according to report by Reuters. However it was unclear whether this would be accepted by the Chinese court.”
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MacDailyNews Take: Ah, the twists and turns of “negotiating” with an extortionist like Qualcomm.
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