Apple and Qualcomm have been locking horns with each other in a court Legal Battle. Apple claims that that the chip maker is charging more than necessary for its patents, which Apple and other OEMs use in the making of iPhone and other smartphones. Now, Intel has joined team Apple and released its statement, which reveals that Qualcomm tried to push the semiconductor making company out of the mobile industry. For the unfamiliar, Intel is the only competitor that can overthrow Qualcomm from its profit making business in the market.

Intel sides with Apple, claims foul play is happening

Intel has suddenly jumped in as Apple is using the some of the LTE modems manufactured by the company in its latest iPhones. Incidentally, these modems infringe on Qualcomm’s patents, which is why the chip maker is demanding that Apple substitutes these parts in its iPhones. It is believed that GSM handsets running on AT&T and T-Mobile networks, as well as most of the world's carriers, employ Intel’s LTE modems.

However, CDMA versions of these handsets running on Verizon and Sprint in the United States are using modems made by Qualcomm. The company has the highest number of patents for CDMA technologies, which means that most phones in the US have Qualcomm modems in them.

Intel also claims that the chip maker offered Apple lesser fees for licensing in exchange that it uses only the former’s chips and no other SoC. This ensured that one of the biggest players in the United States was closed off to competitors, ensuring maximum business for Qualcomm.

Other tech giants back Apple

Apart from Intel, other tech companies such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft all believe that the demands Qualcomm has raised about this lawsuit are anticompetitive and unreasonable.

These companies believe that not only would the ban of modems made by other companies (except Qualcomm in the United States) cause supply issues in the market, but also give the chip manufacturing company monopoly, which in turn drives up prices of consumer products. However, this incident is not an isolated one. In the past, Qualcomm has been accused of anticompetitive practices as well.

This spring, it was slapped with a lawsuit by FTC for resorting to strong-armed methods and forcing other companies into doing business with the firm.

It remains to be seen if Apple can stop the chip maker from arm twisting it further.