Apple files lawsuit against Qualcomm in China seeking $145m in damages

Apple has filed two lawsuits against Qualcomm in Beijing. In the first lawsuit, Apple alleged the chip maker was abusing its dominant position in the market and seeking 1 billion yuan ($145.36m, £115m) in damages, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court said.

In the second lawsuit, Apple accused Qualcomm of not meeting promises made to license "standard essential patents" broadly and inexpensively, reports Reuters.

Responding to the lawsuits, Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm, said in a statement: "These filings by Apple's Chinese subsidiary are just part of Apple's efforts to find ways to pay less for Qualcomm's technology. Apple was offered terms consistent with terms accepted by more than one hundred other Chinese companies and refused to even consider them. These terms were consistent with our NDRC Rectification plan."

"Qualcomm is prepared to defend its business model anywhere in the world," added Rosenberg.

The new lawsuits follow the US Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) decision to file a complaint on 17 January in which it accused Qualcomm of using anti-competitive practices to maintain its monopoly over a key semiconductor used in mobile phones.

Apple followed with a related lawsuit and filed a $1bn case against Qualcomm claiming promised rebates and accusing the company of overcharging for its chips.

Qualcomm earlier said it would contest both the FTC and Apple lawsuits in the US. It is a major supplier of modem chips for Apple and Samsung. Both companies together accounted for up to 40% of Qualcomm's $23.5bn in revenue in the recent fiscal year.