Last Monday, Qualcomm obtained an important victory against Apple regarding the legal battle that faces both companies and that if it continues on that path, you can be very damaging to both parties. For now, Apple has already seen how a Chinese court has prohibited Apple from selling from the iPhone 6s to the iPhone X in China.
To try to avoid this big problem for Apple, the Cupertino-based company intends to move production from iPhone to Pegatron, so that Foxconn would stop manufacturing the models that are currently sold in Asian territory. According to Qualcomm itself, the iPhone manufactured by Foxconn and Wistron infringe the patents of this company, something that does not happen with those manufactured by Pegatron.
Precisely, it has been precisely Qualcomm who has confirmed that iPhones manufactured by Pegatron do not infringe patents for which the American microchip company has sued Apple. Initially, Apple seems to see it feasible to move the production of the iPhone to the Pegatron facilities. The problem that this transfer may pose will be found in the shortage of new terminals on the market, since Pegatron does not have the same production capacity as the giant Foxconn.
According to the Nikkei media, each iPhone maker has its own patent license with Qualcomm, license that is negotiated independently. Apparently, Qualcomm's patent agreement with Pegatron covers more of its product portfolio than those signed with both Foxconn and Wistron.
Nikkei estimates that the loss of revenue for Apple from this ban could climb to $ 5.000 billion for the remainder of 2018, as long as it goes into effect, as the Cupertino-based company has appealed the ruling.