Apple Vs Qualcomm: $27 Billion Trial, Jury Includes Pilot, Former MLB Pitcher

It has been a long time since Qualcomm and Apple were involved in a conflict of monopoly in the smartphone chip industry and overcharges in licensing fees. Qualcomm has been accused of anti-competitive practices that affected chip prices, made the competition to be unfair. On the other hand, Qualcomm has claimed that Apple’s iconic iPhone models wouldn't be possible without technology from Qualcomm, and the innovation totally deserves to be paid by Apple.

It sounds amazing when some of the selected jury members including a pilot, a former baseball, and a retired nurse. They’re said to decide the fate of this historic lawsuit, which will be held in San Diego. Note that, the final result will affect what wireless networks your phone taps into.

Most of the jurors are fairly diverse and well-educated people. There’re nine jurors at all, three of them are women. One of them is a psychologist who worked on suicide problems with United Healthcare after retirement. Another juror is a former professional pitcher, while two of others are said to be a pilot and an MBA in sales management.

Back to January 2017, Apple has first time filed suit against Qualcomm with its payments for modems and royalty fees. According to Apple, it should pay only the fee on the price of the wireless chip. Along with Apple, some allies like Foxconn and Pegatron also joined the battle. On the other side, Qualcomm has claimed it’s clearly not a monopoly and the company should receive more compensations due to the iPhone's selling price. Qualcomm said that the technology it brings to Apple is not just modems.

In term of money, this historic trial could reach $27 billion. Apple’s partners want at least $9 billion at stake as refunding for overpaying royalties. Qualcomm has a bigger concern that could lead to a reform of the entire business structure and decrease the royalty fees due to the price of their chip rather than the device's price.

The battle could make Apple find hard in producing the upcoming 5G iPhone. At present, only Qualcomm’s modems have been up to par with the quality of the upcoming iPhone. If Qualcomm and Apple can’t find a solution together, iPhone likely won’t have Qualcomm’s 5G modems for the year of 2020, 2021, or even anytime from now on.