Qualcomm said in a Friday court hearing that Apple owes them $7 billion in royalties since halting the payments due to its ongoing royalties dispute with the mobile chip maker.
“They’re trying to destroy our business,” Qualcomm lawyer Evan Chesler said at a hearing Friday in federal court in San Diego. “They’re now $7 billion dollars behind in royalties. The house is on fire and there is $7 billion of property damage right now.”
Apple began withholding the royalty payments after it had filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm over what the iPhone maker called unfair royalties for “technologies they have nothing to do with.” For its part, Qualcomm maintains its technology “is at the heart of every iPhone,” and that the royalties are valid.
The ongoing battle began in 2017. Apple accuses Qualcomm of unfair patent practices by making it pay for the use of its chips in iPhones and pay again through patent royalties. Qualcomm says there is nothing illegal about the practice, and that Apple has been okay with it for years.
The legal battle has seen both companies file multiple lawsuits against each other.
