Qualcomm sues 4 Apple manufacturers over unpaid royalties

Qualcomm sued the iPhones manufacturers for failing to pay royalties on the chip maker's technology

Qualcomm Inc said on Wednesday that, it filed a complaint against the Foxconn Technology Group and three other contract manufacturers of Apple Inc for not paying royalties.

The other manufacturers listed by Qualcomm were Pegatron Corp, Wistron Corp., and Compal Electronics Inc. Qualcomm filed the complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

Qualcomm, the largest maker of chips used in smartphones, is a major supplier to Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd for modem chips that connect phones to wireless networks.

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The iPhone maker sued Qualcomm in January, accusing it of overcharging for chips and refusing to pay some $1 billion in promised rebates. Qualcomm said last month that Apple had decided to withhold royalty payments to its contract manufacturers that are owed to the chipmaker, for sales made in the first quarter of 2017, until the dispute is resolved in court.

"While not disputing their contractual obligations to pay for the use of Qualcomm's inventions, the manufacturers say they must follow Apple's instructions not to pay," the chipmaker said in a statement.(read more)