Apple confirmed Friday that it won't make any further royalty payments to Qualcomm until a court weighs in on the dispute between the two companies. Earlier on Friday Qualcomm lowered its quarterly earnings forecast, noting that Apple, via its suppliers, had stopped making payments.
"We've been trying to reach a licensing agreement with Qualcomm for more than five years but they have refused to negotiate fair terms," Apple told Axios in a statement. "Without an agreed-upon rate to determine how much is owed, we have suspended payments until the correct amount can be determined by the court. As we've said before, Qualcomm's demands are unreasonable and they have been charging higher rates based on our innovation, not their own."
The context: Apple is suing Qualcomm for $1 billion and Qualcomm has filed a countersuit of its own. The legal battle is fraught for both sides, though, with Apple being one of Qualcomm's biggest customers and Apple needing Qualcomm's modems for the Verizon and Sprint versions of the iPhone.