Apple vs. Qualcomm: Chipmaker will continue to remain modem supplier despite lawsuit

In what may appear to be a case similar to the Apple-Samsung fiasco, where Samsung continued to manufacture chipsets for Apple's mobile devices, Qualcomm said that it would still continue to do business with Apple despite the lawsuit. And there's good enough reason for this.A report by Recode, states that the chipmaker would not stop supplying chipsets to the iPhone maker. Qualcomm, on the other hand (this may sound a bit odd), is critical for Apple's iPhone operation. And the reason for this is that they are the only chipmakers who provide the modem chips for Apple's iPhone chipsets that supports technologies used by operators like Sprint and Verizon. While Apple does use modem chips from Intel as well, they only work in certain countries and certain types of networks.Again this is the very same reason why Android smartphone manufacturers have stuck to Qualcomm for long.Apple filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm last week stating that Qualcomm charged five times more than all the other cellular patent licensors, Apple had patent agreements with, combined.The one billion dollar lawsuit Apple accused Qualcomm of overcharging for chips and refusing to pay some $1 billion in promised rebates which appears to be a sweetheart deal of sorts.A Reuters report cited Apple claiming that Qualcomm withheld the rebates because of Apple’s discussions with South Korea’s antitrust regulator, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). It also claimed that Qualcomm forced Apple into changing its responses with KFTC if it wanted to get those rebates. Apple reportedly refused to give in to the same.Qualcomm, however, claims that Apple has misinterpreted its terms and according to Recode is considering filing its own lawsuit. Considering that the 5G revolution is on the horizon, one wouldn't like to disturb the sleeping giant that Qualcomm is, because it already seems to have made up its plans about 5G. Still then, Qualcomm is known for maintaining its business ties despite the lawsuits in the past.