Visits: 5
Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf appeared on CNBC Wednesday to discuss the company’s settlement with Apple.
div > div.group > p:first-child”>
Mollenkopf said the company will not disclose the payment Apple agreed to in the settlement. Following the announcement of the settlement on Tuesday, Qualcomm said it expects incremental earnings per share of $2 as product shipments ramp and it starts providing 5G chips to Apple. Mollenkopf said he was pleased that the two companies will continue to work together.
“The reality is two great product companies, it’s a natural position for them to work together and want to work together,” Mollenkopf said.
Shares of Qualcomm were up more than 12% in early morning trading on Wednesday following a 23% rally on Tuesday after announcing the deal.
The legal battle had centered around a royalty dispute between the two companies. Apple claimed that Qualcomm was abusing its position as a dominant supplier by charging high prices as well as licensing fees for its patents. Qualcomm claimed Apple withheld payments it had agreed to. The settlement announcement came just as trial proceedings were beginning in San Diego, where each company sought billions in damages.
Despite the bitter legal dispute, Mollenkopf said both Qualcomm and Apple are now focused on their products and working together.
“The energy of the companies right now is lets figure out how to ramp up as quickly as possible,” Mollenkopf said. “That’s where the focus is, that’s what we are excited about.”
Now that this dramatic chapter is behind Qualcomm, Mollenkopf said he is excited to focus on new opportunities, including 5G.
The 5G space opened for Qualcomm even more on Tuesday after Intel announced it would drop out of the 5G smartphone market, citing an unclear path to profitability.
“There’s a lot of opportunity for us to go after that and we hope to have the ability to do even more,” Mollenkopf said.