Apple has recently stop the sales of the iPhone 7 and 8 from its German website and stores, following a ruling in the District Court of Munich. The ruling said that those two models of the iPhone were infringing on Qualcomm’s intellectual property related to power savings in smartphones, via TechCrunch.
While the ruling occurred last month, Qualcomm was required by the court to post €1.34 billion in security bonds before it would be enforced, which is now occurring. A quick check of Apple’s German site confirms the change only the newer iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max are listed, the iPhone 7 and 8 are nowhere to be found. Apple has already said that it plans to appeal the ruling, but while that process takes place, it won’t be able to sell the iPhone 7 or 8 in its own retail channels.
It’s unclear whether third-party sellers and carriers will still be allowed to sell the phones. Qualcomm says the court has “also ordered Apple to recall infringing iPhones from third party resellers.” But back in December, Apple said “all iPhone models remain available to customers through carriers and resellers in 4,300 locations across Germany,” even while it appeals the ban for its own stores.
The ban in Germany is the latest escalation of the ongoing feud between Apple and Qualcomm, which began when Apple first accused Qualcomm of charging unfair prices for its modem chips back in 2017. Qualcomm responded with a variety of lawsuits around the globe. Apple is also facing a similar situation in China where Qualcomm has also won a sales ban over patent infringement issues.
