German court has officially banned Apple from further selling iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 units in the country, reports Reuters.
The move is a massive win for chipmaker Qualcomm, who's been in a nasty legal battle with Apple centered on chips and patents. Apple has confirmed it will begin pulling the aforementioned iPhone models from its stores in Germany.
Qualcomm's victory arrives weeks after the company secured a court order to ban sales of some iPhone models in China. Apple has contested both rulings, and particularly in China, it has tweaked iOS in order to keep selling phones in the country.
iPhone Ruling In Germany Bans iPhone 7, iPhone 8 Sales
The German ruling only affects two of Apple's previous-generation iPhones, of course. The company is still allowed to sell the iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, and other models in the country. The ban might only affect a few million iPhones out of the hundreds of millions that Apple sells each year, as Reuters notes.
That being said, this is still a clear victory for Qualcomm in what's a tricky and complex legal war that's been boiling for more than a year. The skirmish is likely about to get worse in the coming months, especially as antitrust regulators and Apple both take Qualcomm to U.S. court.
"Qualcomm's campaign is a desperate attempt to distract from the real issues between our companies," said Apple in a statement. "Their tactics, in the courts and in their everyday business, are harming innovation and harming consumers. Qualcomm insists on charging exorbitant fees based on work they didn't do and they are being investigated by governments all around the world for their behavior."
The Apple And Qualcomm War Explained
Apple has accused Qualcomm of engaging in illegal behavior to maintain a monopoly on the mobile chip market. Qualcomm is currently the top manufacturer when it comes to mobile chip platforms, its Snapdragon series used by nearly all devices from all manufacturers except for Huawei, which uses proprietary processors.
In response to Apple's accusations, Qualcomm has accused Apple of giving Intel, Qualcomm's main rival, "unprecedented access" to its proprietary chip technology.
From there, things have only gotten worse. Back in July, Apple announced that it was going to remove Qualcomm components from future iPhones, a change that could greatly hurt Qualcomm's profits moving forward.
Make sure to check back with Tech Times as this story develops.
