Qualcomm is confident it has the upper hand in its legal battle with Apple, which began with a $1 billion royalty dispute in January.
The San Diego-based company revealed its optimism in its third-quarter earnings report on Wednesday. Shares of Qualcomm slipped by more than 3 percent in after-hours trading, after the company narrowly beat EPS and revenue expectations.
“We believe that we hold the high ground with regard to the dispute with Apple, and we have initiated new actions to protect the well-established value of our technologies,” Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said in a statement.
- EPS: 83 cents per share vs 81 cents per share expected by a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate.
- Revenue: $5.3 billion vs expected $5.26 billion expected by a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate.
Late April, Qualcomm lowered its third-quarter revenue forecast amid its ongoing $1 billion royalty dispute with Apple, which claims it is being charged “at least five times more in payments than all the other cellular patent licensors we have agreements with combined.”
Qualcomm said at the time that the iPhone-maker indicated that it would withhold future royalty payments until that conflict is resolved.
Earlier Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that a number of Apple suppliers are joining the iPhone-maker in its case against Qualcomm. Apple is reportedly covering the legal expenses associated with the companies’ defense.
Earlier this year, Qualcomm received approval from U.S. antitrust regulators for its proposed $47 billion acquisition of NXP Semiconductors.
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