Apple resumes selling iPhones in Germany, but with only Qualcomm modems

“Apple Inc said Thursday that it will resume selling older iPhone models in its stores in Germany after they were banned last year, but only with chips from Qualcomm Inc, which is in a global legal battle against the Cupertino company,” Stephen Nellis reports for Reuters. “Apple said it had ‘no choice’ but to stop using some chips from Intel Corp in iPhones headed to Germany in order to comply with a patent infringement lawsuit Qualcomm won against Apple there in December.”
“Apple began phasing in Intel’s modem chips in 2016 after years of using chips exclusively from Qualcomm. In last year’s iPhone models, Apple dropped Qualcomm’s chips completely in favor of Intel’s,” Nellis reports. “But Qualcomm has continued to supply Apple with chips for older models, and Apple on Thursday said it would use only those for German iPhone 7 and 8 models.”
“‘Qualcomm is attempting to use injunctions against our products to try to get Apple to succumb to their extortionist demands,’ Apple said in a statement to Reuters,” Nellis reports. “Newer iPhones with Intel chips remain on sale in Germany.”
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MacDailyNews Take: “Apple resumes selling iPhones in Germany, but with only Qualcomm modems” which perfectly highlight the issue. Qualcomm has won nothing but a very minor battle; selling a handful of extra modems inside older iPhones in Germany in exchange for losing their extortion racket when all is said and done.
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