Qualcomm says Apple is $7 billion behind on royalty payments amid legal battle

Chance Miller | Oct 27 2018 - 6:39 am PT

Amid the ongoing legal battle between the two companies, Qualcomm revealed in a court hearing yesterday that Apple is $7 billion behind on patent royalty payments. This allegation is just the latest in a string of accusations between the two companies.

As reported by Reuters, Qualcomm’s comments were made during a hearing in a federal court in San Diego. While the chipmaker says Apple is $7 billion behind on royalty payments, Apple argues that Qualcomm unfairly charges for use of its patents.

Apple has been withholding royalty payments to Qualcomm since the dispute began. Last April, it was reported that Apple and its suppliers had withheld some $1 billion in royalty payments. According to Qualcomm’s latest accusation, however, that number has increased exponentially since then.

Qualcomm’s accusation regarding Apple’s unpaid royalties is just the latest development in the legal case. Just last month, Qualcomm said that it has evidence Apple stole its source code and handed it over to Intel.

Of course, shortly after making those accusations, Qualcomm’s CEO said he hopes to one day do business again with Apple. Apple CEO Tim Cook has also publicly discussed being open to settling the legal dispute, but has also said he expects the legal battle to be a lengthy one.

It’s widely believed that this year’s iPhone models exclusively use radio chips from Intel, a move on Apple’s part that deals a huge blow to Qualcomm’s business. While older iPhone are still sold with Qualcomm chips, being cut out of the new generation is a troublesome sign for the chip maker.