robjn

Since Apple has a 6 year license to Qualcomm’s patents. Apple has 6 years to advance it own technology ahead of Qualcomm’s.

In the meantime Apple can use Qualcomm’s chip designs or it can use Qualcomm’s technology in its own chip designs.

Interestingly, Apple’s press statement says they intend to “differentiate”. In saying this, Apple reveal that they have thought of ways that will make their own chips different in ways that will matter to customers. This is intriguing.

In order to make more money, Qualcomm insisted on effectively charging twice by not including patent licensing with its chip designs (even though the chip designs obviously employ the patents). It now appears Apple could be working this situation to their own advantage.

The licensing deal with Qualcomm might not be about Apple caving in and being forced to use Qualcomm chips. It might be about Apple finding a way to bring their own chips to market sooner.

To Qualcomm, the licensing deal with Apple felt like a victory, however in 10 years time people may well look back and see that deal as the beginning of the end of Qualcomm’s dominance.

You write: Another obstacle is the terms of Apple's legal settlement with Qualcomm, which resulted in a six-year licensing deal and a chip supply arrangement that could potentially last just as long. If so that could mean Qualcomm chips in iPhones as late as 2025.

Apple has licensed Qualcomm’s patents for 6 years. However, the chip supply deal is only described as “multi-year”. This could just be 2 or 3 years. Apple could potentially release it’s own chips at any time and these chips could use some Qualcomm technology under the licensing deal. Apple may first use its own modems in products like Watch and iPad before later bringing them to iPhone.

His whole argument is a ‘straw man’. Apple do not fundamentally object to services being advertisement based - they object to privacy abuses.

You can do ads in a way that respects user privacy.

The fact is that Samsung invested big on OLED with Android hopes that did not materialize.

They predicted that all the cheap Androids would rush to adopt OLED. They believed that once Apple started to use OLED everyone else would have to copy them. That simply didn’t happen. Samsung wasted billions building production capacity that was never used.

Whether Apple met their contractual obligations or not, the big problem for Samsung is that they made a massive error in predicting the wider market. 

The obvious flaw is that you can only listen to music in an environment where you also have sufficiently bright light to be able to use sunglasses.