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US: Apple to pay Qualcomm over US$4.5B in past licensing fees

By  |  May 2, 2019
According to Qualcomm’s latest earnings report released this week, Apple will pay the company between $4.5 and $4.7 billion as part of the settlement the two firms made last month.
Last month, Qualcomm and Apple put to bed a massive, long-running patent and antitrust case that started when Apple sued the other company for alleged unfair patent licensing practices for $1 billion and escalated when Qualcomm filed a countersuit for $7 billion. Qualcomm came out the apparent victor, scoring a six-year licensing deal and a chip supply agreement as well as the massive one-off payment.

That multibillion dollar payment is a big deal for Qualcomm, reported The New York Times. The company estimated in its quarterly earnings report that it expects to take in a total of $4.7 billion to $5.5 billion in regular revenue, before the payment is factored in, during the upcoming quarter. However, the company also said its legal war chest isn’t necessarily an immediate game changer, even if the deal positions it to be Apple’s sole 5G modem supplier in the wake of Intel’s withdrawal from the market.

The Times noted that Qualcomm’s Q3 2019 forecasts, which fell on the slightly lower side of analyst expectations of $5.29 billion, “suggested that Apple’s licensing fees will not substantially increase revenue as Apple catches up on royalties it didn’t pay while the two companies were feuding.”
Full Content: New York Times

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