Qualcomm sues four iPhone suppliers for ‘following Apple’s instructions not to pay royalties’

In a new move in the on-going dispute between Apple and Qualcomm, the chip supplier has sued four iPhone suppliers directly. Qualcomm has already filed a countersuit against Apple itself.

The mess began when the FTC accused Qualcomm of effectively giving itself a monopoly by saying that it would charge Apple higher patent royalties unless the company agreed not to source baseband processors from its competitors. Apple then sued Qualcomm in several different countries, Qualcomm countersued, tried to get iPhone imports banned and said that iPhone suppliers were withholding around $1B in overdue royalties.

Even Samsung is on Apple’s side, but Qualcomm isn’t giving up …

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Apple has started production of iPhone SE in India, shipping to customers later in May

In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has confirmed that its manufacturing partners in India have started domestic production of iPhone SE. This marks the first time Apple has produced iPhones outside of China and presumably the devices will bear an ‘Assembled in India’ label on the hardware. Apple is pushing hard into India as it looks for new markets to grow iPhone sales.

The report says that the iPhone SE devices are being made in Bangalore and will ship to customers later in May, with the first domestically-produced phones appearing on store shelves next week. Pricing is unknown …

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