In order to force Apple to return to the negotiating table, Qualcomm submitted an application for a ban on specific iPhones in China. Apple failed to negotiate and the Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court recently issued a court order prohibiting the sale of some iPhone products including the iPhone X in China.
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After the verdict was passed, Apple quickly responded and said that domestic users can purchase all the affected iPhones normally. However, a new report now shows that the iPhones produced by Heshuo are not applicable to the ban, while the iPhones produced by Foxconn and Wistron are within the scope of the ban. The report said that Heshuo had an exemption because the company paid a patent fee for the software when Apple and Qualcomm started the dispute and neither Foxconn nor Wistron paid the patent fee.
In view of this, Apple is said to have negotiated with Taiwan’s Heshuo whether it can take on more production orders to solve the problems caused by the ban. Although the parties have not yet reached an agreement, this change will only apply to sales in China only. Each iPhone assembler and Qualcomm negotiated different deals. An inside source said that Heshuo paid more for patents to Qualcomm than Foxconn and Wistron. This is why it can be exempted from the ban. Qualcomm has affirmed that Heshuo is exempted from the ban, saying that “Heshuo has two patents.”
