Apple Forced to Cease Sales of iPhones in Germany Due to Dispute with Qualcomm

• Apple is currently amidst a legal battle with Qualcomm that involves several lawsuits across the world.
• Qualcomm had a court injunction in its favor that saw the iPhone 7 and 8 banned in Germany on December 20, 2018.
• Apple is currently prohibited from selling the two devices officially or through third-party resellers.

Apple and Qualcomm have filed multiple lawsuits against each other in the recent past that saw the iPhone manufacturer’s devices being temporarily pulled in the Chinese market. A recent court injunction has halted the sales of the iPhone 7 and 8 in Germany as well.

Following the ban, Apple is currently offering its latest X series devices and all releases that came before the iPhone 7. Qualcomm posted €1.34BN worth of security bonds to enable the court injunction on December 20 which was announced by the Chinese company yesterday.

Qualcomm revealed in a statement “the Court found that Apple is infringing Qualcomm’s patented power savings technology used in smartphones. Apple was ordered to cease the sale, offer for sale and importation for sale of all infringing iPhones in Germany. The Court also ordered Apple to recall infringing iPhones from third-party resellers in Germany.”

The legal battle between both companies started in 2016 when Qualcomm was accused of monopolistic practices in the chip industry. Apple has repeatedly accused Qualcomm of preventing innovation and forcing the tech giant to focus its resources on legal matters instead.

Apple is not the only company to have accused the Chinese chipmaker of monopolistic practices. The Federal Trade Commission has questioned Qualcomm’s practices that include overpriced patents and other questionable practices. Apple has been able to reverse its ban in China with a software update to the banned devices, and it remains to be seen if the tech giant will be able to get the ban overturned in similar fashion in the near future.

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